Witchlighter
by Phoenixed
Summary: Post 8x22, Paige continued to tend to her charges and her husband. In her ultimate journey of discovery, she comes into a new destiny and must embrace her heritage all while trying to fight off the demonic Darklighter who plots to destroy her. R & R
1. The First Chapter of Her Life

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Charmed. What the hell have I done with my life worthy of being able to own Charmed? Zilch. Nada. End of story. Now read mine, lol.**

**To the Reader: **This is a Paige spin off starting off with a prologue. I hope you all enjoy. Review upon reading as I would really like to hear what you have to say.

**(Prologue) Chapter 1: The First Chapter of Her Life**

_**August 2nd, 1977**_

The midnight blue sky blanketed this part of the world at this time. Countless stars glistened in beautiful patterns, but above a red victorian manor, there were an array of stars that resembled a Roman numeral two. The reason this shape rested above this particular home was because of the situation happening inside the top floor.

In the attic of the Halliwell Manor, Penny Halliwell flipped through the aged pages of the Book of Shadows, hoping to find answers to a serious problem in her ancestral tome. Penny ran her hand through her dark brown curls and scratched her scalp as she wasn't finding a solution.

Her daughter Patty Halliwell and her Whitelighter Sam Wilder, sat on a near-by red couch, a newborn baby cradled in Patty's arms in a blue blanket. The baby was their daughter, and a forbidden one at that.

Witches and Whitelighters weren't meant to be together, but Patty had fallen for hers. She had been having problems with her ex-husband, and Sam always knew how to comfort her. Sam was an angel, whereas her ex, Victor, was a magic-hating mortal. Despite the two held different understandings on magic, Patty and Victor had given birth to three daughters who, unknown to Victor, but definitely known to Patty, were destined to be great witches. More than three hundred years ago, Melinda Warren, the first family witch, had foretold a prophecy of their line producing three women with the strongest of magical powers, the Power of Three. These sister witches were to come from Patty Halliwell, but instead of the required three girls, she had produced four.

"There's nothing here about witches with Whitelighter powers," her mother said, giving the tome a puzzled look. The ancestral Book of Shadows was letting her down in a dire time.

"Then what do we do, Mother?" Patty asked, looking worriedly down at her baby. Her auburn hair fell and concealed her eyes, only for Sam to assist her by pushing it back.

"I don't know," Penny said, telekinetically flipping the pages with one hand while she gently tugged her jeweled necklace with the other. "I'm thinking we should bind her powers, just like we did with the girls. Hopefully, the Elders won't be alerted to her magic."

"We need a better solution! Something without flaw," Patty urged, wanting to squeeze her daughter in her grip to assure no one can take her away. "If the Elders learn about her, it could mean serious punishment for the both of us! I don't even want to think about what may happen with her!"

"And for me as well," Penny sighed. She looked at Patty's horrified expression. "I'm sorry, dear, but I'm keeping the secret as well. If the Elders find out, they won't forgive any of us." She gently waved her hand, closing the Book magically. "Nothing in here, but we're forgetting a bigger factor. The girls may be denied their powers as part of the punishment."

"No! Magic is a part of who we are. I can't allow my girls be denied their heritage," Patty said firmly. But beneath her defiance she feared for her family; a part of her secretly wanted to renounce witchcraft and give all of her children a normal life. How could she let go of her newest daughter for the Greater Good? Patty yearned to raise her, a desire that shouldn't have been selfish. Unfortunately, in this case it was.

"We should hide her," Sam suddenly suggested. It was the first time he had found the courage to discuss the subject about what to do with his only child.

Patty looked at him questioningly. "Hide her?"

Sam remained silent, unsure of whether he wanted to answer this. He understood it was possibly the solution that could've worked, but could he really separate himself from his daughter? This wasn't a time to be selfish to his own wants, so he said, "Give her up for adoption. Let another family raise her. If the Elders don't see her with us, she won't be of any interest to them."

"Is that our only option?" Penny asked, walking over to the couple. "Surely there is another option..."

"Actually, it sounds like our best bet," Patty said, shifting her gaze from her mother to Sam. "It would be best for her."

"Should we do it now?" Sam asked.

"I don't see why not," Patty replied. She turned to her mother. "We'd better do it before the girls wake up from that sleep spell you put them under."

Penny nodded, shrugging her shoulders and the features of her crimson velvet gown brushed around. "Making sure they were asleep was very much necessary. Not only were we coming into the attic, we were bringing with us a half-sister they don't know about. They were naive enough to believe you gained all that weight, but if they saw that weight gone after a few hours, they might catch on."

"You're right, Mom," Patty admitted, staring down at her daughter. "Its just that I don't like the idea of you using magic on them."

Penny could not know that her daughter would soon be killed by a demon in the lake, and that Penny would raise Prue, Piper, and Phoebe alone. Unaware at that moment of what the future held, she nodded and said, "All right, I'll try to keep that down to a minimum."

"Thank you, Mom. I only say so because --"

"Forget about that", Penny interrupted. "We can't waste any more time, we have to do it now. Take the baby to a local Church. Let's pray they find a wonderful family for her."

"Okay," Patty said as she and Sam stood up.

"I'll orb us," Sam said, placing his hand on Patty's shoulder.

"Wait a moment, Sam," Patty told him. She turned to Penny with teary eyes. She nodded her head to side and asked, "Do you want to say goodbye to your granddaughter?"

"I don't know if I'm strong enough, but.." Penny gently replied, unable to finish the sentence. She approached Patty, took the baby into her arms, and gently rocked her. "Hello, little one, I'm your Grams. And I wish you a safe journey through life." Penny looked up, a tear rolling down her face, and handed the child back to Patty. "I can't do this. It's too hard." This was tough for such a prideful woman to admit, but she had to send her off before any of them changed their minds. "You should go. Hurry."

Sam hugged Patty as she rested her head on his shoulder, clutching her baby girl. In a moment's notice they vanished in a shower of blue-white orbs with no proof that the girl was ever there by the time the orbs were replaced with empty space.

Penny wiped the tear from her cheek and left the attic, locking the door behind her. Unbeknownst to her, the array of starts above the house cluttered around and blended in with the other stars for a mysterious reason.

**(X)**

Inside a Catholic church, a newly-founded nun, Sister Agnes, knelt in front of a pew, finishing her prayers. She got up to start her next task, which was to go to the homeless shelter to help serve hot meals for those in need. It was work like that which helped her feel fulfilled in the nature of her role now. It was a nature she would embrace for the rest of her life.

Throwing on her sweater that had rested on the backseat of the pew during her prayers, Sister Agnes walked up the church's main aisle and out the front door. She tightened her grip on the sweater as she went down a street, heading for the shelter. Suddenly, she saw a hint of light out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see a shower of bright lights materialize into a man and woman with a child in the woman's arms.

"My God!" a shocked Sister Agnes exclaimed, her hand over her mouth. She questioned what she had just witnessed, but viewed it as beautifully serene.

Patty and Sam knew her to be a nun because of the habit she wore. They also knew they had been exposed, but still they approached her. "Excuse us," Patty said to Agnes. "Are you with the Church?" She already knew the answer, but felt it would only be appropriate to ask first.

"I am. How did you- _Is_ there something I can help you with?" Agnes asked, still frightened and amazed by the way the couple had appeared to her.

"Yes. We hope you can find a home for our daughter. She's in danger as long as she's with us. We want to keep her safe, and the only way we can do that is by giving her up. Would you be able to place her with the best family you can find?" Patty's auburn hair was blowing in the wind as she desperately hoped the nun could deliver her daughter to a caring home.

"I'm positive I can find a family. I don't mean to pry, but are you sure?" the nun asked.

"Yes, we are," Sam replied. "This is the hardest thing we'll ever do, but it's necessary. Necessary for her."

Sister Agnes nodded, feeling remorseful for the couple. She walked up to them and looked at their sleeping baby. Like all children in her eyes, she was beautiful, but judging by the arrival of her parents, she figured she was more than just another beautiful child of God.

"Looks like orbing tires her out," Sam said to Patty in a half-hearted joke.

Patty forced a chuckle, hoping it would lighten the mood, but it didn't. She gazed down at her infant, her eyes beginning to brim. "I am so sorry we have to leave you. It hurts us more than you can imagine, but if you're discovered, it could mean terrible things for us and your sisters. I know this is selfish, but you might be better off living a normal life. You'll escape danger if you're with a normal family. I just hope you don't grow up hating us because we let you go. I love you, my little angel," Patty said, sobbing softly as she kissed the baby's forehead.

Patty gave the infant to a tearful Sam, who held her and bounced her around for a couple of seconds. "Giving you up is the hardest thing we'll ever have to do. I'm sorry we can't be there for you." Sam felt weak and then handed her over to Sister Agnes.

The nun couldn't help but admire the beautiful baby some more and the blue blanket covering her. "I'll find a safe home for her," Sister Agnes promised. "Does she have a name?"

Patty shook her head. "No, but I do have a request. Can you ask the family you place her with to give her a name starting with the letter 'P'? I may never see my daughter again, but I just want to leave a piece of her family with her_. Please_."

"And please keep our secret," Sam joined in. "We can't have anyone knowing about this. The only person you can reveal us to is her." He pointed at the baby. "If she ever comes looking, tell her about everything that happened here tonight. Help her understand and even offer the blanket as proof."

"I'll be sure to do so." Sister Agnes agreed with a nod.

"You should get going before she gets sick from being out here," Patty told Agnes in a cracking voice.

Agnes nodded again and walked off with the baby. She turned back once at the parents and continued to gaze at the beautiful baby girl as she walked back to the Church she just left.

Sam looked at Patty, pulling her into a hug. "Do you think she'll come into her powers?"

"I don't think so," she sighed. "It's sad to think that the world is now minus one Halliwell witch."

Sam tried his best to be encouraging. "You never know. Maybe she'll come looking for us one day, find her sisters, and become a powerful witch like them."

"Maybe," replied Patty with a weak smile. "Right now I just hope she'll be safe from all the evil roaming around." She walked over to her beau and pressed her sobbing eyes against his chest, clutching onto the back of his shirt in great emotional pain.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Let's go home," he said. Patty nodded against his chest and as they glowed in blue lights, her sobs evolved into full cries. The orbs spiraled around the couple and carried them into the sky, eventually dispersing directly under the array of stars which first hovered over the manor. The further the baby was carried away, the more distant the collection of stars spread.

**(X)**

As Penny sat on her bed, leafing through a brown book on her lap, she gasped as she came across a page. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, bringing her hand to her cheek in amazement.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. With the book under her arm and a hand raised, she stood up and walked cautiously out of the room, ready to attack any demon she discovered. But what she found instead was a crying daughter and the sobbing father without his child.

Penny lowered her hand. "How did it go?" she asked in a soft voice.

"As hard as can be expected when you're giving up your child", Patty said, sniffing.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Penny said. She smiled gently. "But I have news for you. Whether it cheers you up or not is beyond what I can imagine, but it's definitely something great in my eyes."

"What is it, mother?" Patty asked curiously.

"Our fourth girl will have a safe childhood as well as a great destiny ahead of her. She's going to be the Witchlighter."

Patty and Sam looked at each other in confusion at the sound of the unfamiliar title. "The _Witchlighter_?" they asked as one, even more confused by the grin on Penny's face.

Penny walked over to them and handed Patty the brown leather book, introducing her to the knowledge.

Patty and Sam sharply gasped as their eyes went wide as they read. Breaking into a joyful smile, they and Penny stared at the page with the entry title written above it: _Witchlighter._

**Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed. To all readers, this is going to be the start of a series. Chapter 2 will pick up with present day two months after the Ultimate Battle. A date will be given. Please review upon completing. ****By the way, I've realized that a Chapter 1 wouldn't necessarily be the prologue, but that's just how I set it up. **


	2. One and the Same Pt 1

**Witchlighter Chapter 2- One and the Same Pt. 1**

_**July 2006**_

It had been two months since the Charmed Ones' Ultimate Battle, but somehow real life had failed to get the memo. It went on as usual: Demons attacked, Whitelighters aided their charges, and Paige Matthews carried on with her Whitelighter duties.

It was the last week of July and, so far, a fine late morning. Dressed in a blue sleeveless top, pink pajama pants, and white sneakers, Paige emerged from the kitchen of the apartment she shared with her parole-officer husband Henry Mitchell. She was on her way to their bedroom to handle a non-magical problem: a spouse down with a cold for the past three days. She entered the room, carrying before her a tray balancing a glass of water, a cold medicine bottle, a spoon, a napkin, and a ham-and-cheese sandwich on a paper plate. The bedridden Henry greeted her with a barrage of coughing and sneezing.

"How are you feeling?" Paige asked as she placed the tray on the bedside drawer.

"Lousy. Are you sure you can't heal me?" Henry asked between coughs and sniffles.

"My powers heal wounds, not a cold you caught from a parolee," Paige said, filling the spoon with the cold medicine. She moved it towards Henry's mouth. "Now say 'aah'".

Henry turned away in protest. "Not to sound like a kid, but I hate that stuff."

"Too bad. You need to get well so you can get back to work, and the only way that can happen is for you to take your medicine," his wife reminded.

"Can't you just give me a vitamin or something?" He was positive that he didn't want another taste of that medicine.

"People take vitamins to avoid getting sick in the first place. You didn't, so be a good boy and take the yucky stuff," Paige replied firmly. Suddenly, she heard a jingling in her mind. "Come on, Henry, I don't have time for this! My charge is calling!"

"I'll take it later," the mortal lied.

"Oh no, I'm not falling for that one. And I hate to have to do this, but you insist on being stubborn." Paige looked down at the spoon. "Medicine!" she commanded.

The fluid orbed straight into Henry's mouth, which his wife swiftly clamped her hand over to keep him from spitting the medication back out. He swallowed reluctantly and let out a couple more coughs. "Paige, I could've choked!"

"My apologies, but you left me no choice. I have to go. Be sure to eat your breakfast."

"Yes, _Mom_," Henry muttered.

Paige's body changed into a glowing cloud of white and blue lights. Henry covered his eyes; in his sickened state, the orbs were too bright for him. When the glow rose up and vanished, he turned to his sandwich on the paper plate. He picked up the plate and looked at it quizzically. "Paper plates?" he asked himself, confused as to what happened with the real plates.

**(X)**

Paige materialized in an alley beside her charge Lena, a brown-haired witch with the gift of deflection. Today however, the self-protection mode Lena had chosen was to hide behind a Dumpster. And Paige quickly saw the reason why -- four crimson-shirt demons. Three were apparently minions while the fourth, wearing a black leather trench coat and finger-cut gloves, appeared to be the alpha.

"Oh, Paige, thank God you're here!" Lena whispered in relief. "I need help!"

"I can see that. Stay down," Paige advised. She stood and faced the demons. "What's wrong, boys?" she taunted. "Scared?"

Two minions replied by hurling at her what looked like red energy balls. _I've seen those before, _Paige thought,_ but what are they?_

"Energy balls!" she shouted, extending her hand to deflect them. To her shock, the oncoming balls didn't deflect; they fused together in mid-air and hit her, wounding her while blasting her onto her back.

All three minions conjured a shock ball, taking aim at Paige. "We have her, Sivor," one said to the alpha demon.

"Then kill her!" Sivor ordered. The minions obeyed, hurling the balls at the Charmed One.

"Paige!" Lena cried out in alarm. She jumped up, both hands extended. A pair of blue shields materialized in front of Paige and deflected the shock balls back at their owners. Two of the demons were hit and exploded as the third one dodged the remaining ball. The force of the explosion flung Lena off her feet to land beside Paige on the ground.

Paige picked herself up, torn between healing her charge and battling the demons. But Lena's groan of pain settled the matter; Paige knelt beside her and placed her hands over Lena. Golden light emanated from her palms, healing her charge's unseen bruises.

Sivor's remaining minion watched the procedure in amazement until Sivor angrily shoved him toward the two witches. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get them!"

Paige raised her head as the minion fired off two shock balls. Swiftly placing a hand on Lena's leg and shoulder, Paige orbed herself and her charge out of harm's way, causing the shock balls to explode against the concrete ground.

"Come on," Paige said to Lena after they had rematerialized in the same spot, "we have to fight back. He's a minion; he shouldn't be too much trouble. Just, uh...cause a distraction." She fixed her eyes upon Sivor's belt and orbed out.

Lena began to run. "Come get me!" she called to the minion in a taunting voice.

"It's a trick!" Sivor said, looking all around for Paige. "Where is the Whitelighter?" He turned to see his minion chasing after Lena. "Get back here!" he shouted.

"Athamae!" a voice called out.

Sivor turned to see Paige behind him, his athamae orbing from his belt and into her hand.

"Thanks a bunch!" Paige said, grinning as she orbed out of sight.

"Damn!" Sivor cursed, preparing to chase after his minion.

Paige materialized behind the minion and stabbed him in the back. He screamed in pain as he exploded, taking the athamae with him in his fiery demise.

Lena ran back to Paige and they faced Sivor together.

"I'll be back!" he snarled as he flamed out.

"Of course you will," Paige sighed. "God forbid I should ever get a peaceful day."

"Thanks, Paige," Lena said gratefully. "I was on my way to work when the demons appeared. They chased me down the street and into this alley, and that's when they attacked me." She gave Paige's pajama pants an amused look. "It seems I called before you were ready to go to work yourself."

Paige looked down at her pajamas and chuckled self-consciously. "Uh, yeah, I wasn't dressed for demon-vanquishing today. I should get you out of here, though. That demon said he'd be back. Naturally, I might add."

"Thanks, but I honestly have to get to work. I'll be fired if I keep taking days off."

"Okay, go," Paige said. "Our friend won't attack in public unless he's either the boldest or stupidest demon around. Meanwhile, I'll stop by my sister's place to research him."

_If only photocopying the Book of Shadows worked back then, _she thought.

Suddenly, a jingle of a different tune alerted Paige: that of a mortal in pain. She turned to Lena. "I have to go, but when you get to work, call me on my cell so I'll know you're safe."

Lena smiled and nodded. "I will. Thanks again, Paige."

She watched as Paige orbed out of sight, rushing to her next charge.

**(X)**

Paige orbed into yet another alley, one that was a few blocks away from where Lena had been attacked. Sprawled on the ground, a short distance away, was Paige's latest charge: Sally, a Whitelighter-to-be. The two had never met, but Paige was assigned to monitor her safety. This was the first attack sent on Sally. And standing over the terrified woman, aiming a crossbow at her heart, was a Darklighter.

Paige's hand shot out. "Crossbow!"

The Darklighter stared in wonder, as his crossbow orbed out of his grip and into Paige's. She aimed the weapon and fired. The arrow hit the Darklighter squarely in the chest, but instead of exploding, he pulled it out with a painful groan.

Paige's eyebrows flew up. "Oh, upper level Darklighter." She realized and then turned to Sally. "They must really have it out for you."

The woman stared up at her attacker from the ground. "Who are you? Some kind of hit man?" she cried as the weaponless Darklighter glared at them. She turned to Paige. "And who are _you? _How did you pop up? What's going on?"

"Save the who's, how's, and what's for now; I'll explain it all in a bit," Paige said. She still aimed the crossbow at the Darklighter, but she knew she couldn't fire off a second shot because she was now out of ammunition. _And it would be hard for me to hit my target while he has the arrows_, she thought grimly.

The Darklighter glared menacingly at Sally. "Don't worry. I'll be back for _you_," he growled as he vanished in a black-orb swirl.

The woman gaped at her attacker's exit. "W-w-what the hell?" she stammered.

Holding the crossbow in one hand, Paige lowered it to her side and approached her charge. "I guess I should explain a little thing called 'magic', but for now, where were you heading off to?"

"I'm going to a fundraiser at the community center down the block," Sally explained, pointing down the end of the alley.

Paige smiled. "Really? They're holding a fundraiser?"

"Yes. All the proceeds are going to a children's charity."

"Wonderful! Mind if I join you?" Paige asked, feigning interest to remain close to her.

Sally smiled her relief. "Oh, no, not at all. You handled that hoodlum -- whoever or whatever he was -- so well that I already feel safe in your company."

"Great, let's go," Paige said. She took a few steps with Sally before she realized that she was still in her pajamas. She smiled sheepishly. "Uh, actually, can we go somewhere else first to chat real quick? Somewhere possibly _discreet_?"

**(X)**

In an Underworld lair, Sivor was pacing back and forth when the Darklighter appeared before him. The demon stopped his pacing.

"How did it go, Malox?" he asked.

"The Charmed One interfered, just as _he_ said she would. And you?" Malox asked with folded arms.

"She interfered all right. I lost three minions; one of them wasn't thinking clearly and the fool got himself killed when the Charmed One used my own athamae on him. Fortunately, it was destroyed along with him, so she can't use it to track me."

Malox heaved a regretful sigh. "Unfortunately, _I_ wasn't thinking clearly either. She stole my crossbow and she can use _that_ to track you through me."

Sivor took a deep, concerned breath, noticing Malox's wound. "If she does, then we're in trouble."

"You're not in any trouble at all." The disembodied voice brought the conversation to a halt as the pair looked around. Black orbs rained down in front of them to coalesce into a grim-looking man clad in black from his waistcoat to his black boots. He had dark facial hair while tribal markings covered the left side of his face. He gazed at Sivor and Malox with shadowy eyes.

"Avo," Sivor greeted him as Malox nodded a welcome. "What's our next move against the half-breed witch? We attacked her charges, as you commanded, but she's clever and resourceful. The only things we accomplished were dead minions and a stolen crossbow."

"Keep her busy," Avo said. "This plan of wearing her out by attacking different charges of hers is good, so we'll play it through." He grinned at Sivor and Malox. "Demons and Darklighters working together; this is the unity I'll create when I become the new Source."

"Is this because you're half-demon and half-Darklighter?" Malox ventured.

Avo nodded. "Definitely. I have to prove myself to the Council of the Underworld if I'm to be the next Source. I would have already owned that throne if I hadn't been denied it because of my Darklighter heritage. I have more power than many demons, and the belief that I can never rule or be respected due to my lineage and its powers is pure ignorance. The Council told me repeatedly to strip myself of my Darklighter half, but I refused every single time. I'm going to be the Source and I've found the way to gain the respect I need to do so. And that's by both destroying and killing the Witchlighter."

**(X)**

Paige returned to her apartment bedroom in a shower of blue-white lights. Henry lay in bed, asleep. On the night-stand was the tray, packed with the empty paper plate, the half-full glass of water, the medicine bottle and its spoon, and the now-used napkin. Wanting to see how he was doing, Paige crept to his side and gently nudged him. "Henry," she whispered. "Henry."

He opened his eyes and slowly smiled. "Hey."

"Hi," she answered, sitting down beside him on the bed. "Listen, I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly, but two charges were under attack and they were both calling for me. Then, after I chased off the demons, that one charge I told you about -- Sally -- I had to teach her about magic. And I'm not done; I have to go to Piper's to research the demon that attacked Lena, the other charge." Paige sighed. "This is just never going to end for me."

Henry sat up and leaned against the backboard of the bed. "Paige, you'll burn yourself out the way this is going. You've taken on too much responsibility: Charges, demons, and me. And not to sound selfish, but these days I hardly get to see you."

"I know," she sighed. "It kills me that you keep coming in last. But, like you said, I have responsibilities. And one of them includes looking up demons." Paige gave Henry a quick kiss and stood up.

Henry spotted her small, but noticeable wound above her hip. "What happened to you?"

Paige looked down at her injury. "Oh, I should take care of that. I'll raid Piper's medicine cabinet; she always keeps it stocked with supplies. Are you going to be okay without me?"

"Yeah, I will. And speaking of supplies, can you get more paper plates? I eat a lot, so if we're going to be using those, we'll need about fifty more."

"Excuse me?" Paige asked, raising her eyebrows. "What's gotten into you?"

"I just ate a sandwich off a _paper_ plate. Why are we using them? We have _actual_ plates."

"Hmm, let's see," Paige said, placing her hands on her hips, "I've been off saving the world, so I haven't had time to do the dishes. I guess you have a different idea of marriage in mind. Maybe we can _have_ that stereotypical marriage where only the wife does the household chores?"

"Paige, you forget that we alternate doing the dishes every week, and it's now your turn." Henry broke into another fit of coughing. "I'd do it myself without complaining, but I'm stuck here in bed at the moment."

"I don't have time. Look at me, I'm still in my sleep-wear! There's no time for me to change, let alone do the dishes. There's also the laundry, but even that's not going to fit into my schedule. I have to go." She turned, ready to orb out.

"Wait, I forgot to tell you. That Lena girl called here saying she got to work okay."

Paige turned back and stared at him. "She called _here? _Why? I told her I was reachable."

"Actually, you weren't; you left your cell phone here. Don't worry, I told her I'd let you know that she was all right."

"Thanks," Paige said as she made her way to Henry to get her cell. "I have to go now."

He looked at her attire. "Don't you want to change first?"

Paige shook her head. "I can't waste anymore time." And on that note, she orbed off.

**(X)**

Paige materialized in the Halliwell Manor's conservatory, where she had sensed Piper. After coming out of orb, the first sight meeting her eyes was that of her oldest sister playing with her two sons, Wyatt and Chris, as morning sunlight beamed in through stained-glass windows. The two little boys quickly took notice of Paige.

"Aunnie Paige!" Wyatt excitedly called. Paige smiled as he half-toddled, half-ran to her. Her eldest nephew was improving daily in his speech skills, but he occasionally had difficulty getting words out.

She knelt down and gathered the little boy into her arms for a hug and a kiss on his cheek. "Hey, Wyatt, how are you doing?"

Piper Halliwell rose to her feet with a grin. "Paige! How's it hanging?" She chuckled when she caught sight of her half-sister's bedroom ensemble. "Oh, I didn't know this was a come-as-you-are visit. The boys and I would have kept our pajamas on."

"N' Paid," squeaked Chris as he toddled to his aunt.

Paige knelt again to give Chris a hug and a kiss on his cheek, then stood to greet Piper as she approached. "Oh, don't ask," she sighed as they embraced, "I'd rather not get into it. Everything is good. Unfortunately, I'm here on business, but I wanted to come by and see you first. I hate not being able to hang out here lately."

Piper pulled back and looked at Paige "What is it?" she asked. "Charges under attack or do you need the Power of Three?"

"No, you're safe." Paige frowned. "I, on the other hand, have to go to the Book of Shadows and look up a Darklighter and a demon."

"You have your work cut out, don't you?" Piper said. "By the way, ix-nay on the demon-nay. It's bad enough that my sons have to grow up around it, but I'd rather not have them hear about it every week. That's how nightmares begin."

"Okay, I'll be upstairs then." Paige began to walk off, but Piper called her back. She turned to see her sister looking at her wound in concern.

"What's up with _that?" _Piper asked.

Paige looked at her injury. "Oh, um, yeah, the _bad guys_ had these strange red energy balls. I didn't know what they were, so my orbing power didn't work. I recognized them from when one of my temp bosses was killed by them several years ago, but I think I was too upset to look them up."

"Hold on, Paige. You've never had to get your commands down precisely. Remember the Scabber demons we battled? They were spitting acid all over the place and I believe you said--"

"'Icky stuff'. Yeah, yeah, I remember. But somehow I don't think that will work on these new guys, so I have to consult the Book."

"Okay, you do that," Piper said, nodding. "I'll get something from the medicine cabinet for your wound."

Paige smiled. "Thanks," she said over her shoulder as she left the conservatory. She went up the staircase to the attic, where she found the now-mortal Leo moving a bureau that Piper wanted to have placed in their bedroom.

"Hi, Leo," Paige greeted her brother-in-law as she entered.

Leo stopped his work, turned to her, and smiled. "Paige! How are you?"

"What do you think? I'm walking into the attic to the Book of Shadows to look up a demon and Darklighter." She stopped in front of the green leather-bound tome sitting as always on its wooden podium, opened it, and started flipping through its parchment pages. She heaved and sighed as she did.

"What's wrong?" asked Leo.

"It's this whole Whitelighter-on-call thing at every hour of everyday. It gets a little tiring."

Leo nodded sympathetically. "I know. It was hard for me as well when I was a Whitelighter. Don't worry about it, Paige. It'll grow on you to where it seems like getting up every morning and going to work." He returned his attention to the bureau.

"I'd agree, except that when I was a social worker I'd be home by afternoon and was never on-call," Paige replied, continuing her search. "Just last week I had a charge call me at four in the morning. Luckily, I was able to get rid of the demon without much effort. But I wish the demons would sleep when _I_ do, and leave my charges alone."

Piper entered the attic, carrying a first-aid kit. "How's it going?" she asked as she came up alongside her sister.

"Still haven't found either demon or Darklighter," Paige responded without looking up.

"Why are you searching for a Darklighter in the Book? You can just whip up a standard vanquishing potion. There aren't really any Darklighter entries except for different types," Piper reminded, moving closer. "Was there something different about this one?"

"Yes, there was. I used his own arrow on him and he didn't explode; he would have if he was your basic Darklighter. So here I am, researching. Maybe there's a disempowerment spell in here that'll weaken this particular one."

"The Book has spells and potions for disempowering witches and warlocks, but, to my knowledge, there's nothing in there for demons and Darklighters. Otherwise, we would've been making those potions every morning and chanting those spells every day."

Paige stopped flipping through the Book and almost slammed it shut. "Thanks, Piper, that's just what I need to hear," she said in annoyance. "Got any more good news?"

Her evident frustration made Piper and Leo exchange worried glances. "Come," Piper said gently, taking Paige by the arm. "Let's go sit on the couch."

"No! I have to find these --"

"Do as she says, Paige," Leo interjected, his voice taking on its old Whitelighter authority. He gestured toward the Book with his head. "Whoever you're looking for will still be in there."

Paige opened her mouth to protest again, but changed her mind and nodded in defeat. She let Piper lead her to an old couch, where they sat down side-by-side.

Piper opened the first-aid kit and removed a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, which she applied to a cotton ball. "Paige, _is _everything okay?" she asked as she cleaned her sister's wound. "You said it was, but you're not acting like it is."

Paige heaved a weary sigh and slumped back into the couch. "Its just life right now, Piper," she admitted. "I'm a Whitelighter and a witch; I have charges to help, charges to guide, and demons to track and vanquish. I'm also Henry's wife and I have to make room for him too. It's hard enough juggling all that when things are going well, but today two of my charges were attacked at practically the same moment by different evils. I had to go to their aid. On top of that, Henry's been down with a bad cold for the past three days, and I haven't been able to stay home long enough to take care of either him or the apartment because of my responsibilities."

"Wow, your plate's really spilling over," Piper said. She gave the used cotton ball to Leo for him to toss out, and removed a gauze bandage from the first-aid kit.

"I know," her sister said unhappily. "With a sick husband at home, I should be there for him. Hell, I want to be with Henry right now, but I also have to be there for the rest of the world. It's not fair to him, Piper, I love him. He shouldn't be the very last item on my to-do list."

"Hey, preaching to the choir here, sister," Piper said in a gentle, supportive tone. She fastened the gauzed bandage in place over Paige's wound with adhesive tape. "Remember? I fought for the longest time to have a normal life, and thankfully I've now had one for a while. You and Henry are now in the same boat that Leo and I were in, so you must realize that you'll have to fight like hell to shape your life the way you want it. It's a witch's lot."

"But I'm not just a witch, Piper. I'm a Whitelighter, and that's what keeps me so busy!"

"Then talk to the Elders about this, Paige," Leo suggested. "Ask them if they can lighten your workload."

"I think I'll do that," Paige agreed. "I knew my life wouldn't be magic-free after we won the Ultimate Battle. However, what I didn't want was more work in the bargain, so I'm going to have a word with the Elders. But I still have to find the demon and Darklighter pests."

She got up, returned to the Book of Shadows, and resumed flipping through it. Suddenly, she stopped at a page and slapped it triumphantly. "Gotcha!" she crowed.

Piper turned to Leo. "I think she's got him," she joked.

Her husband grinned. "You think?"

"Oh hush, you two!" Paige retorted. She read the entry out loud, "Sivor leads powerful demons known as the Hellspawn. These demons tend to run in packs, and their powers include shock balls, fireballs, and firebolts. Hellspawns increase their powers by killing other demons to obtain theirs, and the strongest are vicious and quick to act." She stopped reading Paige scanned the bottom of the page, "There's a spell and it looks good to me. I'm writing this down."

Piper approached with pen and pad in hand. "Here you go," she said, offering them to Paige.

Her sister shook her head. "You don't have to help out, Piper. I can do this."

"In case you haven't noticed, you're a little stressed, so if I can help, I will," Piper replied. She smiled. "And I would hardly call handing you pen and paper helping out."

Paige smiled a bit sheepishly. She took the pad and pen, wrote down the vanquishing spell, and closed the Book of Shadows. "Good, I got my spell for Sivor. I'll now assume I can also weaken the Darklighter's magic with a spell; as long as it's well written it should work. Now I have to go tell my charge that she'll be safe once I vanquish the demons."

"Good luck with that." Piper suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, before I forget, Billie's flying in from Chicago next week in time for your birthday."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Oh, man, I forgot that my birthday was coming up!" She grinned. "I guess your reminding me means no surprise party, huh?"

"Nope, just a family dinner," Piper replied, returning the smile. "I'm doing the cooking, so take joy in that."

"Always do, but now I have to end the sisterly visit and get back to my charge before the demon strikes again. Call you later."

"Bye, Paige," Piper said as they embraced. "And, again, good luck"

Paige waved good-bye to Leo. Stepping away from her sister, she took a moment to sense a vacant area at Lena's workplace, orbing out after she did.

**(X)**

After Paige materialized, she took in her surroundings, or rather, what she could see of them in the dark; she had orbed inside a janitor's supply closet. _Oh, well,_ she thought wryly, _at least I didn't orb straight into mud._

Finding the door unlocked, she opened it cautiously and peered around. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear, Paige stepped out of the closet. She went quickly around a corner and down the hallway, in the direction where she had sensed Lena. She had carefully rehearsed an explanation in case someone stopped her and asked why she was there, but the preoccupied employees walked by, taking no notice of her, despite her clothes.

Lena was an assistant coordinator for Golden Gate Events, an organization that staged numerous venues inside Golden Gate Park. The Head of Directory had been upset with her for her recent but constant tardiness, but Lena could hardly tell her boss that she had been battling demons, Sivor being the newest and strongest one to date. Lena had no rough history; she was simply a witch in need of a Whitelighter's protection and guidance. And she couldn't have asked for a better Whitelighter than Paige.

Paige reached Lena's office, knocked on the door, and heard the sound of approaching footsteps inside. Lena opened the door, holding a clipboard to her chest.

"Paige! What are you doing here?" asked Lena in surprise. "Didn't your husband give you my message?"

"Yes, he did. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you, but I didn't have my cell phone with me and another charge of mine needed help." Paige glanced around and lowered her voice so Lena's co-workers wouldn't eavesdrop on the conversation. "I want to talk about the _unfriendly_ _visit _you had today."

"Do you need to talk to me now? I have to finish up some things here."

"It can wait. Mainly, I just wanted to see how you were." Paige smiled. "I'm glad you're safe. If you need me, you know the drill."

"Thanks, Paige," Lena responded, smiling back. "I'll let you know. I should be done soon." She stepped back and closed the door.

Paige turned to leave. Suddenly, she gasped and stopped dead in her tracks, grabbing her upper arm in pain as a woman's frantic cry for help reverberated through her mind.

"Oh no," Paige said in horror. Sally was in trouble.

She looked quickly around, saw no cameras or people in sight, and orbed out as fast as she could.

**(X)**

This was the first time Paige had orbed into an alley since morning; it was now afternoon. She spotted Sally writhing in pain on the ground, an arrow protruding from an upper arm. Paige ran to her.

"Well, well. Look who's back," came Malox's sneering voice.

Paige skidded to a stop as she saw the black-clad Darklighter standing near-by, crossbow in hand and loaded with a deadly arrow. She bit her lower lip. Sally desperately needed healing, but Paige had to buy herself time. She couldn't risk the Darklighter's arrow coming at her, especially since she couldn't even kill him with one.

"I'll get you too, Whitelighter!" Malox threatened, raising his weapon to shoot.

"Will you now?" Paige challenged him. Seeing an open Dumpster, she waved her arm in Malox's direction. "Darklighter!"

The startled Malox was engulfed in a white orb cloud. Paige hurled him at the Dumpster, but only managed to slam him into the side of a building. He landed on the ground, reforming.

"I think I need to work on my targeting," she said ruefully to herself.

Sally's moan reached Paige and she rushed to her. "Arrow!" she called, extending an open hand. The projectile swirled out of Sally's arm in glowing white light to materialize towards Paige's grasp, but she threw it to one side before it can touch her. Paige knelt next to Sally, and placed her hands over her charge's wound. The golden light from Paige's palms bathed the ugly injury, which closed and healed without a trace. Sally's facial expression became more relaxed as her pain disappeared under the ministration.

Suddenly, Paige heard the Darklighter get to his feet, followed by the sound of an arrow being pulled from its quiver. She turned to see Malox take aim and fire his crossbow. She grabbed Sally and swiftly orbed them both away, causing Malox to miss his targets.

The Darklighter cursed in frustration. He walked over to where Paige had thrown the first arrow, picked it up, and smelled Sally's blood on it. "So close," he muttered. He exited the alley in a sinister cloud of darkness.

**(X)**

Paige and her charge came out of orb in the middle of the Mitchell apartment living room. Panting, she stood up and helped Sally off the floor and onto her feet.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked.

Sally nodded gratefully. "I'm fine now, thanks to that marvelous healing ability of yours."

"Paige? Is that you?" called Henry from their bedroom.

Before she could answer, he stepped out, dressed in a white t-shirt and gray briefs. He stared at the sight of the surprise visitor. "Who's this?"

Sally turned crimson in the cheeks. "Oh, dear."

"Um, honey, go back inside," Paige said quickly, trying to defuse the awkward moment.

He retreated, as much out of embarrassment as well as obedience.

"Will you excuse me for a moment, Sally?" Paige asked over her shoulder as she followed Henry.

"Of course," replied her charge, giving a self-conscious smile.

Paige entered the bedroom to find her husband pulling on a pair of sweat pants. "I am so sorry, Henry, but I had to bring her here; a Darklighter attacked her. I'm going to cloak our place because I figure she'll be safer here."

Henry sat down on the bed and sighed. "Paige, I know you have a magical job to do, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me in on it. You're my wife and we're partners, so I'd like at least a little advanced warning if you're going to bring your work home."

Paige gave her husband an irritated look. "Can you not refer to her like she's a document I have to finish?" she said, folding her arms. "My charges call me at random, they don't make appointments for me to save them. There's nothing I can do about it if they need my help. Now, I need to cloak Sally before I go have a word with the Elders."

"The Elders? Why are you going to talk to _them?_" Henry asked, finishing his question with several coughs and sniffles.

"I'm going to ask them to lighten my workload. Chasing after two charges today caused me to start my day without brushing my teeth." She looked down at her attire and slapped her sides in frustration. "And I'm still in these damn pajamas. I should be grateful I was able to put my sneakers on to take out the garbage or I'd probably have glass in my feet."

Paige walked over to her bureau, opened a drawer, and pulled out a long black box with gold lining in it. She removed two crystals and placed them down in two separate corners of the bedroom. She then entered the living room, carrying the box with her. She smiled at Sally as she placed a crystal near the living room window and the front door.

"Okay," she told her charge, "the crystals have been blessed and programmed to hide you from Darklighters. As long as you stay here, you should be safe."

"But, Paige, I can't stay!" Sally protested. "I have to get back to the community center for the children's charity drive!"

"Sally, please don't make me feel bad about protecting you. I'm sure the community center will be fine until I can vanquish that Darklighter, which I plan on doing after I speak with my bosses. On the other hand, if you'd like to do _me_ some charity, you can take care of my husband while I'm gone. He has a cold and needs attention, which I can't very well give him at the moment."

Sally smiled and chuckled. "All right. It's the least I can do for imposing upon you both."

"Thanks, and you're not imposing at all," Paige said. "I have to go." Her body transformed into a glowing column of orbs.

"Hurry back," Sally called as Paige orbed out of the apartment.

**(X)**

Normally, Paige would have gone to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge and call for her bosses, but there was no time to waste. She aimed for the very heavens themselves, where the Elders and other full Whitelighters resided, and she was off.

Her orbs flew upward into the sky, passing through clouds, but she had to use all her mental strength to hold a picture of the heavens in her head. Usually, orbing was instantaneous for Paige, but that was when she knew exactly where she was going. On this particular trip, however, she didn't, so she remained in orb and used her senses to search. When peaceful, quiet feelings washed over her, she knew she had arrived, and she came out of orb at that moment.

Paige's jaw dropped. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she looked around. She wasn't quite prepared for the sight that met her. Filament-marble halls bathed in soft blue light, the place where she had materialized didn't look so much like Heaven as it did the interior of a huge building straight out of Ancient Rome; pillars rose up from the floor to support a towering, vaulted ceiling while a veil of cool mist extended throughout the majestic structure, flowing around Paige's feet as it did.

As she began walking down the hallway, Paige observed white-robed figures, their hoods pulled down over their heads so nothing could be seen of their faces except for a golden glow emanating from within the depths of the hoods; a number of them walked together in pairs, uttering clicking sounds as they went. These Paige knew to be Whitelighters. She didn't know what the clicking noises were for until she remembered that Leo had said this was how Whitelighters held private conversations with one another. A sort of Whitelighter-ese, as the late Prue Halliwell had called it.

Paige continued on down the hallway, a number of Whitelighters turning to stare at her as she passed them. Some recognized her as a Charmed One, where others looked at her as if she didn't belong there. She knew she didn't, but she also knew that she wasn't the first Halliwell sister to grace these halls. Five years ago, when Leo was helping Paige master her orbing skills, he told her the story of how he had broken all the rules by bringing Prue, Piper, and Phoebe to this very place to save Elders, Whitelighters, and witches alike from a particularly nasty warlock called Eames. After killing a Darklighter for his crossbow and a Whitelighter named Natalie for her orbing power, Eames had invaded the heavens to begin his murderous rampage by firing at the first Whitelighters he saw -- only to discover those Whitelighters to be the Charmed Ones in disguise. After using Eames's own arrow against him, the Halliwells had delivered the _coup de grace _with a three-part vanquishing spell.

Suddenly, Paige caught sight of gold-and-white robes as a pair of Elders emerged from the mists. As they drew closer, she saw two familiar faces. "Sandra! Odin!" she called. They turned as she trotted up to them, amazement registering on their faces.

"Paige, what are you doing up here?" Sandra asked in mild disapproval. "How did you _get _up here?" Her face then softened when she saw Paige's bandaged wound. "What happened?" the Elder asked in a gentler tone.

"A group of demons attacked one of my charges," Paige explained. "She and I fended them off, but not before they tag-teamed me with a shock ball."

Sandra removed the bandage, held out her hand over Paige's injury, and healed it in a shower of golden light.

"Thank you," Paige said, giving Sandra a grateful smile. "I have to speak with you both. I would've called you from Golden Gate Bridge, but this is urgent and sometimes you don't answer my first call."

Odin's face darkened. "If we don't, it's because we're busy. You should know that by now," he said sharply. "And why are you here in the first place? You know you're not supposed to be."

"Well, I didn't come for one of your little tongue-lashings, and I don't have time for it either," answered Paige as she glared at Odin. "One of my charges has a demon after her and another is being stalked by an upper-level Darklighter."

"Then take care of it," Odin countered. "You're a Whitelighter, Paige; it's why you _have _charges."

"That's my problem," Paige shot back. "I have too many! I'm so busy answering their calls that I barely have a second for myself or my husband anymore."

Odin looked Paige up and down, taking in her bedclothes. "I see," he said, smirking. "Couldn't find time to change?"

"Exactly!" she said. "I didn't have time to change into my clothes this morning, and I still don't have time to do it because a charge might call me at any second and that would risk me orbing out topless! I can't be super-witch, super-wife, and super-Whitelighter twenty-four-seven anymore, so I came here to ask you to lessen my workload. Can you?" The two Elders didn't respond. Paige looked at them and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, _can_ you?" she repeated.

Sandra turned to Odin. "I think we should tell her. Don't you?"

"Yes," Odin said with a nod, after a moment's pause.

Paige looked from one Elder to the other, puzzled by the sudden change in their attitude and their words. "Tell me what?" she asked.

"It's about your destiny--" Sandra began.

"As a Charmed One?" Paige interrupted. "Sandra, in case either you or Odin didn't hear, my sisters and I won the Ultimate Battle two months ago. Are you going to tell me that there's now _more _that we have to do?"

Odin shook his head. "Not you and your sisters together, Paige, just _you._ Your destiny with the Power of Three for the most part has been fulfilled. It's now time for you to embrace your full heritage and a new destiny as the Power of One, the Witchlighter."

Paige stared at the Elders, taken aback by this sudden announcement. _A Witchlighter?_ she thought in confusion. _The Power of One?_

**End of Chapter 1**

**Author's Note:** Hey guys. Thanks for reading. Please review as it would mean a ton for me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing what you think about it. Let me know how you feel about length because I can go longer if you wish.

The Switchfoot song has been removed. I've been so inconsistent with getting songs to match chapters, I figured I'd erase that one. (Just a note for those who revisit the chapter and say "What the hell?")


	3. One and the Same Pt 2

**Chapter 3- One and the Same, Part. 2**

_**July 2006 (Same Day)**_

"Excuse me? I'm a _what_?" Paige asked, not quite processing what she heard.

"A Witchlighter," Sandra said. "We've known of it ever since you reconstituted the Power of Three. There aren't many Witchlighters in the world at present; at least, there aren't many who are powerful enough to take on Evil. Although your birth was forbidden at that time, ultimately we realized we needed you to bring back the Power of Three after the death of Prue Halliwell." Sandra smiled and shook her head wonderingly. "We never realized you would make so big an impact: A centuries-old rule we made, one keeping Whitelighters and witches from developing romantic ties, was thrown out because of you alone." 

"I can't believe this!" Paige exclaimed, shaking her head. "You're telling me I have a whole _new_ destiny?"

"We don't expect you to be open to this right now," Sandra replied reassuringly. "I wanted to tell you the day you embraced your Whitelighter half, but I didn't want it to interfere with your Charmed destiny."

"Yes, I agreed to take on charges while still being a Charmed One." Paige looked Sandra in the face. "So, what are you going on about? Spill it. I'm tired of the cryptic talk."

The Elder took a breath and continued. "You'll have to take on more charges, some of who are very important to the Grand Design."

Paige gaped. "_More _charges? I came here to ask you to lighten my workload, not make it heavier! I'm overburdened enough as it is! Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's something only a powerful Whitelighter can do. And who other than a Charmed One who's part Whitelighter herself can rise to the challenge?"

"I can't, and I won't. I have a life! You mentioned other Witchlighters. What about them?"

"Paige, you haven't been listening," Odin said sternly. "There _aren't_ many others. And you already know one -- Sir Simon Marks."

Paige stared at Odin in disbelief. "Simon?! That pompous ass from across the pond is a _Witchlighter_?"

"Yes," the Elder said with a curt nod. "His too was a forbidden birth."

"Well, I can see why you're coming to _me_ for this. But aren't there any others?"

"Only a few, but they aren't strong enough. Some of them haven't even fully embraced their powers from either their witch or Whitelighter side."

Now seeing this was a battle she had no hope of winning, Paige heaved a sigh, rubbing her brow wearily. "Okay, how long will I have to do this?"

"We don't know," Sandra answered gently. "But we can tell you this. You may want to speak with your mother."

"My _mother?_" Paige exclaimed. "Why do I have to --?"

In the middle of her sentence, the two Elders disappeared in a swirling, radiant vortex.

"-- talk to my mother," concluded Paige, glowering after the vanishing orbs. She slapped her thigh in exasperation, and was about to mutter something uncomplimentary about Elders when she heard a woman's voice in her mind, calling out for help.

The voice was Lena's.

_I guess it's good the conversation ended when it did,_ Paige thought wryly as she immediately disappeared in an orb cloud.

**(X)**

When she came out of orb, Paige recognized her new surroundings as the underground parking lot of the building where Lena worked. She didn't have to look for her; Lena was running to take cover behind a pillar a short distance away.

Paige also saw that Sivor had returned to finish off Lena, which he now attempted to do by hurling a shock ball at the fleeing witch. Lena raised her deflection shield to send the ball back at the demon. It hit Sivor, but to Lena's and Paige's horror, he simply absorbed it instead of exploding.

"Ah, that felt good. Care to try again?" he mocked Lena as he created another shock ball.

As Sivor hurled it at Lena, Paige motioned with her hand. "Shock ball!" she shouted, reversing the ball back at Sivor. "At least I know what to call it this time," she said to herself as she ran to her charge.

As with the first shock ball, Sivor merely absorbed the second one. "That was nice," he said, "but I'm now bored with this. Let's try a little variety. Hmm, how about this?" He cockily asked as he aimed the palm of his hand at the running Paige and shot a firebolt.

"No!" Lena cried as Paige reached her side. She raised her hand, deflecting the firebolt back at Sivor. It struck him and knocked him back, but the force of the impact ricocheted back into Lena. She crashed into Paige and both landed on the asphalt ground.

"Excellent! Two for the price of one," crowed Sivor, an evil grin on his face. He shot another firebolt at them, but Paige orbed herself and Lena away before it reached them.

"Damn it! So close!" cursed the frustrated demon. "But I won't miss next time!"

He flamed out.

**(X)**

Paige and Lena materialized into the living room of the Mitchell apartment. Paige expected to see Sally waiting on the couch, but to her surprise, there was no sign of her. She heard footsteps and turned to see her husband, back in his gray briefs, walking out of the kitchen with a glass of cold water.

Henry stopped when he saw that his wife had brought home a second strange woman. He felt the blood rush to his face as Lena gave him a startled look and turned pink herself.

"Oh, no," Henry groaned. "Twice in one day, as if the first time wasn't enough."

"Where are your sweat pants?" Paige asked, pointing at his bare legs.

"I took them off after Sally left. I felt too hot in them."

Paige became frantic. "Wait, Sally left? When? Why? What did you do?"

"Paige, calm down," Henry said reassuringly. "She had to go to a community center to help with a children's charity drive. There was a lot she had to do there. Sally seemed like such a great person that I suggested that she go."

"Henry, that's what you _shouldn't _have said!" Paige shouted. "I brought her here for a reason! She needs protection! Yes, she's a great person; it's why the Darklighter wants her dead! Now I have to find her before he does."

Henry approached Paige to give her an apology and an embrace. But she angrily pulled away, accidentally knocking his water glass. She squealed as its ice-cold contents splashed all over the front of her shirt and soaked through to her chest. She looked down at the blossoming stain and groaned, rolling her eyes. She turned to Lena.

"I guess this is good enough reason for me to finally change. Wait for me, will you?"

Lena nodded a bit self-consciously.

Paige turned back to Henry and pointed at him. "And you go back to bed, _please_."

She followed her contrite husband into their bedroom to ready herself.

**(X)**

Sivor and Malox stood before Avo in the depths of an Underworld cave.

"We need a new approach," Avo said.

"Can we decide what that is soon?" Malox asked impatiently. "That future Whitelighter isn't cloaked anymore and I want my kill!"

"You should get it with the both of you there," Avo replied. "You haven't been able to kill the Witchlighter or her charges singly; perhaps you can do it together. What do you think?"

The demon and the Darklighter pondered the possibility for a moment and then nodded. "It should work," Malox said. "Sivor can distract her while I attack her charge."

"I'm up for it," Sivor agreed. "The Witchlighter hasn't found a way to destroy me yet."

"Then stop wasting time," Avo said. He watched them vanish respectively, rubbed his hands together, and dark-orbed out to follow them.

**(X)**

Paige and Lena materialized together in an alley, the cool evening air greeting them as they did, Paige's orbs illuminating the alley for a second or two before dying away. Wearing a long-sleeved red shirt, black pants and black boots, she was prepared for battle.

Lena and Paige looked around. "Are you sure this is where the demons will be?" Lena asked.

A strangled cry caught their attention. "I'm positive! Sally!" Paige exclaimed. She and Lena whirled to see Malox standing beside Sivor. They had Sally with them; Malox had forced the witch to her knees and had his hands clamped around her throat, squeezing the life out of her. She was trying to break out of his grip, but she was too weak.

As horrified as she and Lena were by Sally's plight, Paige stared incredulously at the scene. "A demon and a Darklighter working _together?_"

Sivor smiled slyly at Paige as he flamed out.

"Uh-oh. Be on your guard," Paige cautioned Lena.

Lena nodded. She stepped away from Paige, but no sooner had she turned when Sivor suddenly flamed in behind her and hurled a shock ball. It nailed Lena in the back and sent her crashing hard into the side of a building. She landed motionless on the ground.

"No!" Paige cried. Her eyes darting frantically from Lena to Sally, she saw her quandary. Both needed her desperately, but first she had to get rid of the demon and his Darklighter cohort.

She dug into her pocket as Sivor hurled a shock ball at her. Paige swiftly raised her hand. "Shock ball!" she commanded. It reversed course as she gestured at Sivor, returning to him as quickly as he sent it. The ball hit him, but he absorbed it as coolly as he had the prior two.

"You can't kill me with my own powers," the demon boasted.

"You'll wish I had!" Paige shot back as she unfolded the paper and chanted, "_Hellspawn Demon, Creature of Death, Fire shall take your very breath!_"

Sivor smirked at Paige's words, but his smirk quickly vanished when he saw and felt scorching flames burning through his clothing. He screamed, wildly flailing his arms as he tried vainly to beat them out. He screeched as he was engulfed in a fiery explosion that died away to reveal an empty, slightly smoking area where the demon had stood a few seconds earlier.

As much as Paige wanted to tend to Lena, who lay motionless on the ground, she now had to deal with Malox, who still had his hands around Sally's throat in a merciless, tightening choke-hold. As long as the preoccupied Darklighter had his shield, Paige could do nothing until she had weakened it enough for her vanquish to work. She closed her eyes, crossed her fingers, and chanted, "_To make this, Darklighter's power weak, Is what I wish and what I seek, The Power of One is what I wield, For me to lessen the strength of his shield!_"

Malox loosened his grip on Sally as his shield vanished in a sudden flash; he realized that Paige's spell had reduced him to an ordinary Darklighter. He threw his limp, weakly gasping prey against a Dumpster, aimed his crossbow at Paige, and fired.

Raising her hand as the projectile came straight for her, Paige commanded, "Arrow!" It became an orb-shrouded lancet as she reversed its course with a push of her arm, deflecting the arrow back at Malox. It plunged into the Darklighter's chest, and with a scream he went up like a bonfire and exploded.

Paige ran to Sally and sat her up. "Easy, take deep breaths," she said as her charge leaned back against the Dumpster, breathing deeply as she held her aching neck. She gave Paige a weak but grateful smile.

"Thanks," Sally whispered.

"No problem. Are you okay?"

"Yes. I think I'm going to have a sore throat for a while though."

"Hey, I'm just glad you're safe," Paige answered, returning the smile. She looked over at Lena's motionless form lying a short distance away. "I have to see to my other charge. You keep put."

Sally nodded and closed her eyes, slowly filling her lungs with the night air.

Paige went over to the prostrate Lena and knelt beside her. Placing her hands over Lena's back, she focused her attention on the brown-haired witch and concentrated on mending her. Paige's palms shone golden as she bathed the full length of Lena's body in their healing light. After several moments the woman stirred and, with a slight moan, opened her eyes.

Paige gently rolled her over onto her back. "Lena? Are you all right?" she asked.

Lena looked up at her and smiled. "I am, thanks to you." She sat up and gazed around the alley. "Are they gone?"

"Yeah, they're gone. I vanquished them. You should be safe now."

Paige helped Lena to her feet and returned to Sally. "Do you think you can stand up?" she asked her.

Sally nodded. Paige took her hand and pulled her up. Sally swayed a little unsteadily, but stayed on her feet.

She enfolded Paige in a hug of gratitude. "Thank you so much. This is twice that you've saved my life."

"I'm glad to help," Paige responded, returning the embrace. She smiled as Lena joined them. "It's why I was assigned to you both." She then gave a puzzled frown. "I've never seen a demon and a Darklighter working together before. Why would they? Those two species aren't exactly friends."

Lena raised her eyebrows in surprise. "They're not?"

"No," said Paige with a shake of her head.

"Have they ever been?" Sally asked curiously.

"No, never. Demons always stick to their own kind and Darklighters always stick to theirs. And suddenly they join forces? It's too weird." Paige pondered for a moment and looked at her charges. "Come to think of it, that attack seemed coordinated, like it was well-thought out. I'd better go see my sisters about this. Can I orb you two anywhere?"

"No, I'll be fine," Lena replied.

Paige turned to Sally. "What about you? I don't like leaving without explaining magic to you since you're new to it and I have no problem answering any questions you may have."

"I _am _curious about some things," Sally admitted. She looked at Lena and smiled. "But I think your friend here can help me with those, if she doesn't mind."

Lena nodded in agreement and turned to Paige. "I'll explain it to Sally. You go do what you have to do."

"But you don't know magic like I do," Paige told her.

"No, but I know how it feels to be new to it, so I may be able to answer Sally's questions," Lena said.

Paige smiled at them. "Okay then. Take care and call if you need me."

She watched as Lena and Sally walked out of the alley together. When they had gone, she orbed out.

From his hiding place on a rooftop directly above the alley, Avo watched Paige's orbs fly past him. "Interesting," he observed. "Sivor was right. This Witchlighter _is_ a clever one."

Wearing a cunning grin, Avo swirled away in a stream of inky black orbs.

**(X)**

Paige materialized in her bedroom to find Henry in bed and the TV tuned in to ESPN. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her coming out of orb and turned toward her.

"Hey," he greeted her smilingly.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" she asked as she approached.

"Much better, thanks. I think my cold's going away. How'd it go?"

"Mission accomplished," she said, sitting down beside him on the bed. "I vanquished the demon and his Darklighter bud."

Her husband gave her a thumbs-up. "Great, score one for Team Good! But didn't you say there was something off about a demon and a Darklighter working together?"

"Yeah," sighed Paige. "These two species never do. Thankfully, my charges are safe, but I need to talk to Piper and Phoebe."

"About what?" Henry asked while Paige grabbed her cell off the drawer beside their bed.

"About a new destiny it seems I now have," she said as she dialed Phoebe's number.

Henry said up. "A new destiny? Can't you tell _me_ first, Paige? You know I'm always willing to learn about what goes on in your magical life."

"I know, Henry, but I didn't think you'd understand."

"Try me. I'm you're husband, remember?"

Paige looked at him and then nodded with a little smile. "Okay. I met with the Elders--"

"Your bosses," he interjected.

"Yes, my bosses. They told me I now have a new destiny, one that doesn't include my sisters. I have the Power of One and I'm known as a Witchlighter."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure. That's why I have to talk with Piper and Phoebe." She gave an apologetic look. "It's not that I want to exclude you, Henry; I don't. I just want answers. Can you understand that?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I respect that, and I respect your independence." He reached out and took her hand. "But remember, Paige, we're a couple now. You may have a new destiny that's all yours, but I'm your escape route from the world of magic into the real one. And I'm not something you can separate yourself from, short of divorce papers." He grinned at his wife.

Paige smiled. She threw herself on top of Henry; they embraced and kissed. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too." He grinned mischievously. "And you should probably know that kissing me isn't good right now with my cold."

Paige's eyes widened. "Damn it, you're right!" She leaped off of him. "Where're the vitamins?"

**(X)**

Twenty-five minutes later, Paige orbed into the attic of Halliwell Manor. Both of her sisters were sitting at the small oak table; Phoebe busily scribbled on the page of an old notebook while Piper sat with her hands folded on the table-top, patiently waiting.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late," Paige apologized.

"Late? You're not late. You're just not early," Piper joked smilingly.

"Why the family powwow, Paige?" Phoebe asked, looking up from her scribbles. "You have a demonic problem that needs a Power-of-Three solution?"

"There's no demon duty for you guys today," Paige said as she joined them at the table. "To make a long story short, I vanquished a Darklighter and a Hellspawn demon. Turns out they were working together."

Her sisters raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"A Darklighter _and_ a demon?" Piper said.

Phoebe shook her head worriedly. "That can't be good."

"You're telling me. But that's not all. I went to the Elders to see if they could lighten my workload. Instead, they told me I had a new destiny; I'm now the Power of One, better known as a Witchlighter."

"A _Witchlighter?_" Piper and Phoebe chorused, staring at Paige.

She nodded. "They said I should speak to our mother about it."

Piper sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. She shook her head wryly. "Talk to Mom about it. Why am I not surprised?" She turned to Phoebe. "Are _you_ surprised?"

Phoebe smirked. "Where this family's concerned, nothing surprises me," she chuckled. "Care to bet Grams had a part in it?"

"If she didn't, she wouldn't be Grams," Piper said, snorting with laughter. She flicked her gaze from Phoebe to Paige and smiled. "Candles, anyone?"

With a grin, Paige turned in her chair. Stretching her arm out toward a circular table, where five white pillar candles sat next to the family cauldron, she called, "Candles." The luminaries became an orb swirl that flew across the room to rematerialize in front of the Charmed Ones.

The Halliwells pushed back their chairs as they stood. "Let's set up," said Piper, grabbing a candle as her sisters took hold of the remaining four. They followed Piper as she lit them in a clockwise direction. When they were finished, they went to the Book of Shadows and opened it to the evocation.

"All right," Paige said. "Who wants the honor of summoning Mom?"

"You do it," Piper said. "After all, you're the one who has to speak to her."

"But I've done enough rhyming for one day."

"Paige," her sisters said warningly, Phoebe crossing her arms while Piper placed her hands on her hips.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it," Paige relented. She cleared her throat and chanted: "_Hear these words, hear my cry, Spirit from the Other Side, Come to me, I summon thee, Cross now the Great Divide!_"

The candles flickered as a spiral of white lights appeared within the center of the rug. They merged together, coalescing into the glowing, transparent form of the Charmed Ones' mother, Patty Halliwell. She was dressed in a flowing, peach-colored gown, her long auburn hair falling beneath her shoulders, she smiled lovingly at her three daughters.

"Why, hello, girls!" she greeted them in an echoing voice, her dark eyes dancing. "How are you?"

"We're fine, Mom," Piper replied.

"What brings about this late call?" The Charmed Ones' mother asked, playing along with not sharing the secret.

"There's something I have to talk with you about," Paige said.

A smile spread slowly across Patty's face. "And I'm pretty sure I know what it is."

"I thought you would," Paige said, "so I'll cut it down to one word: Witchlighter." She folded her arms. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"We didn't dare tell anyone, sweetie, because we couldn't risk the Elders finding out about you," Patty answered quietly. "And, of course, Sister Agnes didn't know about it when we gave you to her so she could put you up for adoption. Your father and I didn't know ourselves until after we returned home, when your Grams said she had stumbled upon something called a 'Witchlighter' in a book she had with her. She --"

"Patty, dear," an all-too-familiar voice broke in, "if you're going to tell the story, tell it right."

Patty rolled her eyes in exasperation as her daughters glanced at one another knowingly.

"Guess who," said Piper, smirking.

A second rain of spirit orbs appeared beside Patty to form into the ghost of Penny Halliwell, the Charmed Ones' free-spirited grandmother, clearly dressed for the occasion in a purple velvet dress.

Patty eyed her mother and crossed her arms. "All right, would you like to tell the story, Mother?"

"Well, I should if you're going to get it wrong," Grams replied stoutly.

"Then tell it," Paige interjected. "That's what we're all here for. More importantly, it's what _I'm _here for."

"Very well," Grams said. She preened herself a little and began. "I was going through my magical books when I came upon _The Prophecies of Madame Nadia_. She was a gypsy I knew about, one who was always careful with her prophecies; as a precaution, she consulted runes, tea leaves, tarot cards, and horoscopes before actually taking a prophecy seriously. I was reading her book when I came across one; it spoke of a Witchlighter."

Paige's jaw dropped. "Wait a minute! I was _prophesized?_"

"Paige, darling, don't get excited," Grams said. "This particular prophecy wasn't three centuries in the making, like it was for the Charmed Ones. Madame Nadia foretold the coming of the Witchlighter only several years before your birth."

"And what did it say?" Paige pressed.

"I can tell you that one easily." Penny closed her eyes and smiled, recounting the prophecy, "_Casting white lights with a Wiccan sun, two shall produce a forbidden one, Magicks will collide and this angelic witch will be forced to hide, Until one night, her presence will cast a blue light, It will symbolize the Witchlighter's return and it'll rid of any concerns, __Blessed with many powers, she'll be a powerful fighter, the day will soon come to welcome the Witchlighter_."

All eyes were on Paige as Grams finished. Phoebe gave an awestruck whistle.

"Wow, Paige," Piper said, clearly impressed, "this certainly explains why you were always independent, even as a Charmed One. You must have always had this pull."

Paige shrugged helplessly. "I just figured it had to do with being an adopted child growing up without brothers or sisters." She turned back to Grams. "So what does this all mean? I now have to multi-task as a witch and a Whitelighter?"

Suddenly, a new voice, a man's, came from nowhere. "No, Paige, that's not all of it."

Everyone in the room gave each other a confused stare and looked around them. "Is that who I think it is?" Phoebe said in amazement.

"Sam!" breathed Patty, her face wreathed in a radiant smile.

"What?" Paige exclaimed. "_He's_ here?"

As if answering her question, orbs of a different sort -- those of a pure Whitelighter -- appeared beside the rug. They vanished to reveal the presence of Sam Wilder, Paige's biological father.

Piper struggled to keep a straight face. "One big happy family reunion, isn't it?" she tittered. Phoebe gave her a reproachful slap on the arm.

Sam chuckled at the remark. "Yes, I wouldn't have missed this for the world." He gazed tenderly at his grown daughter. "Hello, Paige. How are you?"

Paige shook her head in utter bewilderment. "Considering I've had a bomb dropped in my lap, I'm just doing_ great."_

"I know," her father said with a sympathetic nod. "It's a lot for you to take in. But this is something you can't avoid, no matter how much you may want to. You surpassed everyone's expectations after you embraced your Whitelighter half and took on charges of your own. But more will be expected of you as a Witchlighter. You'll have special charges that are destined to have a part in the Grand Design; these people will need greater care and guidance." Sam smiled. "And who better to do that than you, Paige?"

Paige was silent as she mulled over the information. It was several minutes before she spoke.

"So, that's it?" she said quietly. "My Charmed destiny is over? It's just my own Power-of-One gig now?"

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Grams said with a smile, "but for the most part, it's now all on you."

Paige gazed at the apparitions of her mother and grandmother. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have better prepared me."

"Can you blame them?" Phoebe interjected. "Whitelighter half aside, when you first learned you were a witch, you ran out the door. Not exactly an encouraging response."

"Actually, you better prepared yourself, Paige," said Patty. "By joining with Piper and Phoebe to revive the Power of Three, you came into your original destiny. You accepted it and became the witch you were meant to be, and it was then that you came into your Whitelighter half. Seeing you embrace that and the responsibilities that came with it was beautiful; it showed you were truly ready. Even after winning the Ultimate Battle, you didn't throw in the towel. You've continued to fight."

"We always knew you were meant to be a Witchlighter," Grams added. "But when you succeeded Prue after she died, we couldn't burden you with this extra business because you had to be a Charmed One first and foremost. But either way, the Witchlighter magic already growing in you will be strengthened by that experience."

"Magic is important to me and always will be," Paige admitted. "But it's also very hard. Like today, when I almost lost two of my charges."

"But you didn't," Piper reminded her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "They both are alive because of you."

"I know." Paige sighed. "It's just that when I have a difficult problem, like I did with that demon and Darklighter combo, I'm torn between using my Charmed witchcraft or my Whitelighter powers to solve it."

"That's the thing, Paige," Sam pointed out. "You're both, so those thoughts will come up. It's perfectly normal and it's what will make you great. So don't deny this."

"You mean I should go ahead and embrace my heritage?" Paige asked.

Patty nodded. "Exactly," she said, smiling.

"You'll do great," Piper added encouragingly. "You're one fantastic witch, Paige."

Phoebe slipped an arm around Paige and gave her a hug. "_And _one fantastic Whitelighter," she chimed in proudly.

Paige grinned at them and then peeked at her watch. "Well, it's time for me to be a fantastic wife and head back home," she announced. "I don't want to keep Henry in the dark about any of this."

Patty and Penny glistened out after good-byes were said.

"I'll keep in touch, Paige," Sam said. Just as he was about to orb out, he stopped and smiled. "I wish I could have been seated at your wedding. It was beautiful."

"The Elders let you see it?" Paige asked incredulously.

He nodded. "They also let your mother and grandmother see it." He grinned. "I look forward to meeting Henry sometime."

Paige smiled. "Why do I get the feeling that's not far off?"

Sam chuckled and orbed away.

"I should be going," Paige said to her sisters. "You want me to orb you back to your condo, Phoebe?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm going to stay and catch up with Piper. But thanks."

The Sisters Three had a group hug. Paige disengaged herself and took a step back.

"Bye," she said, soaring out of the attic in a glowing white orb-cloud.

**(X)**

"Henry?" Paige called after she had rematerialized in the apartment.

"In the kitchen," came her husband's voice.

Paige entered and smiled as she caught sight of Henry standing at the sink, wearing yellow rubber gloves as he washed a glass with a green sponge.

"Hey, mister," she quipped, "didn't you say it was my turn to do the dishes?"

"I did," he answered with a grin, "but then I realized my beautiful wife would want to rest after a long, hard day of demon fighting." He put the glass in the dish drain. "Besides, I wanted to do some work around here; I've been sleeping so much today that I likely won't get much sleep tonight."

Paige broke into a huge grin and flung her arms around Henry's neck. "Aren't you just the best?"

"That I am," Henry said, smiling as his gloves dripped soapy water onto the tiles of the kitchen floor. His arms encircled Paige in an embrace, the wet gloves soaking the back of her red shirt in the process.

Paige didn't mind at all this time. She rested her head on Henry's chest. "I love you."

"I love me too, Paige," Henry joked mischievously.

She lifted her head and grinned at him. "You're incorrigible, do you know that?"

"Oh, absolutely," he grinned back. He kissed her. "And I also know that I love you."

Paige pulled the gloves off Henry and took his hand. "Come on. Do I have stuff to tell you!" They walked out, headed for the bedroom.

The dishes remained undone for another night.

**End of Chapter**

**Authors Note: I want to thank all my C-Net friends for reviewing and all you new readers of the FF-Net community. I deeply appreciate it. Next chapter will be Paige's birthday and a wish definitely gets twisted. Look forward to it.**


	4. How to Put Magic in a Mortal

**A/N: The chapter was 25 pages so I decided to split them into two different chapters to make it easier for you. This chapter has action, emotions, Paige's birthday and is a set-up. The following chapter is action packed. If you notice, I titled the chapter as a two-parter, "A Wish Gone Wrong" was the original title, but since I split it, that's my result. Enjoy, Read and Review both chapters, please.**

**Chapter 4- How to Put Magic in a Mortal** (of the **A** **Wish Gone Wrong** Two-Parter)

_**August 2nd 2006**_

Paige Matthews fought the urge to rest for five more minutes and roused herself, brushing her brown hair from her face. For several seconds, things were blurry, but after knuckling the sleep from her eyes, her vision cleared. She looked at the other side of the bed, expecting to see her parole-officer husband, but he wasn't there.

She rolled out of bed and wandered off to the living room. If her better half wasn't with her, then he'd be in front of the TV, watching ESPN, his routine whenever he took a day off from work. But there was no Henry in the living room when Paige entered.

"Henry!" she called. There was no response. "Henry, are you here?" called Paige again, looking around. He didn't answer.

Now she began to worry, and with good reason. In the unceasing war between Good and Evil, it was never beneath a demon or a Darklighter to use a witch's loved one as either bait or leverage. And Paige, a Charmed One who was half-witch and half-Whitelighter, had an ordinary, sports-loving, non-magical spouse who was no less vulnerable to Underworld attacks than she herself.

_What if a demon got him while I was asleep?_ she fretted. _Or a Darklighter snatched him to lure me into a trap? Or maybe --_

The sound of footsteps made her turn quickly, but she calmed down, relief washing over her as Henry emerged from the kitchen with a food tray. He smiled at her.

"Happy birthday to you," he said in a sing-song voice.

She smiled back. "Thank you." She eyed the tray**. "**Breakfast in bed, I suppose?"

He chuckled. "You suppose right. Now get back in bed and enjoy this feast I made."

Paige skipped merrily back to the bedroom, her husband following at a more leisurely pace. Yes, it was her birthday today, her 29th to be exact. And on this day she always behaved like a happy child.

She jumped onto the bed, positioning herself against the bed board as Henry walked in. He unfolded the legs of the tray and placed it on her lap.

"Now, _madame_," he said in an exaggerated French accent that made Paige laugh. "We have for you one omelet, two slices of buttered toast, and a side dish of strawberries. And to wash it all down, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with pulp."

"Oh, _merci, monsieur," _Paige replied in a French accent that was no better than her husband's. "It makes me want to orb this to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and enjoy." She took a strawberry and bit into it.

Henry switched back to his regular voice "How is it?"

"It tastes as good as it did when it came out of the package," Paige joked.

"Good!" he laughed. "Now try something homemade; my famous Mitchell Omelet."

"Mitchell Omelet?" chortled Paige. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," Henry said. He added with a whimper, "Don't hurt my feelings, though."

"Oh, all right," said Paige, still chortling. She grabbed her knife and fork and sliced herself a piece of omelet. Before she could sample it, she heard a charge's call ringing in her mind.

Henry recognized her expression. "A charge?"

She nodded. "I have to leave," she said as she put her food down.

He sighed. "It's your birthday, Paige!"

"I know," said Paige, climbing off the bed after she had place the tray to one side, "but Evil doesn't care. And I can guarantee they're not celebrating my birthday today; more likely, they're spitting on pictures of me."

Henry gestured at her. "Well, I hope you know you're going in your pajamas again."

Paige looked down and saw her bedroom attire as well as her bare feet. "Yeah," she sighed, "don't have time to change, but at least I won't be barefoot." She turned, extending her hand toward the floor underneath the bed. "Slippers!" she called and they orbed into her grasp. She immediately put them on.

"Be careful," Henry said.

Paige smiled reassuringly. "I will," she said and gave him a quick parting kiss. "Off I go," she said, soaring off in a glowing white vortex.

Henry sighed resignedly, picked up a strawberry, and took a bite. His mood improved a bit. "_Hey_, these _are _good."

**(X)**

Paige came out of orb in the apartment living room of her charge, a college student named Steve. She didn't see him, but she knew why; he had the power of invisibility. And when she turned she saw the reason: A goateed male demon in a ragged brown sweater, an athamae in his hand.

Paige didn't waste a second. "Athamae!" she shouted, orbing it into her outstretched palm. She threw the weapon at the demon, but he quickly caught it. His hand shot out, telekinetically sending her into a bookcase with such force that several books fell on her. He then hurled a fireball that Paige dodged by quickly orbing out and back in.

The demon was about to let fly with his athamae when he felt a sudden pull, then another, and oncemore. He tried to ignore them, but the pulling kept up so persistently that the demon grew angry, whirled, and lashed out at whoever was interfering. He found himself striking only empty air, and suddenly something invisible hit against his hand, knocking the athamae out of it. The blade hovered in mid-air and then plunged squarely into the demon's chest, vanquishing him on impact.

Paige watched her adversary meet his fiery end. After the flames died away, she smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "You can come out now, Steve," she called wryly.

A brown-haired, brown-eyed young man materialized three feet away in front of her with a crow of "Surprise!" Though Steve was two months new to the craft, he was quite dedicated and had honed his skills during that time. His vanquish of the goateed demon was proof positive, and it made Paige wonder why he had summoned her in the first place.

"You handled that demon fine," Paige said, "so why did you call me? It wasn't necessary."

"I needed the diversion," Steve explained. He grinned. "And besides, I wanted to give you this."

He turned and pointed to a table. At the twirl of his finger, a long green box with a blue ribbon materialized on the table top. Paige smirked at her charge's antics. This was his other talent, the one he liked to call "the hide-and-seek effect", but what other witches knew as concealment.

Steve walked over to the table, picked up the box, and brought it to Paige. "Here, happy birthday."

She blushed as he presented it to her. "Oh, Steve," she said as she took it, "really, this is very nice, but you didn't have to."

"Yes I did," he disagreed cheerfully. He gave a modest shrug. "It's not much, just some clothes."

"Oh?" said Paige, looking the box over. "_Just_ some clothes?"

"Yeah," Steve replied with a little nod. "But you deserve them, Paige. You've been great to me, so this is a token of my appreciation."

As much as she wanted to, Paige couldn't get angry enough at Steve's deception to refuse his gift. "Well, thank you, it's very sweet. I should be going. I have to say you did a great job vanquishing that demon." Before she orbed out, she fixed him with a firm look. "But promise me that next time you'll call me when you have a problem that you can't handle alone."

The young man smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I will."

Paige orbed herself and her birthday gift out of the apartment.

**(X)**

The sight that met Paige's eyes when she came out of orb in her bedroom was that of a sour-faced Henry eating half of the birthday omelet he had made for her.

"Oh, honey, what can I say? I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine," he said coldly. He swallowed the piece of omelet he had been chewing. "I guess I just have to get used to it." He eyed the package in Paige's arms. "Where'd you get the box?"

"From my charge," she answered with a shrug of embarrassment. "It's clothes, his birthday gift to me."

Henry stared at her. "He called you away just to give you a box of clothing?"

"No, there _was_ a demon there, but Steve vanquished him." Paige's expression changed to one of annoyance. "He said he needed the diversion to do it as well as give me my present."

Henry groaned, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "How stupid can that guy be? I don't care if he is your charge, Paige! You could have been killed! You should have thrown the box in his face for tricking you like that!"

"I made Steve promise not to do it again. If he does, I'll let the demon nail him good with an energy ball to teach him a lesson. But I couldn't ignore his call; if I had, _he_ could have been the one killed." She gazed levelly at Henry as she placed the green box on the bed. "And why are you upset about it, anyway?"

"Because it's still frustrating, Paige!" he said.

"Look, Henry, we've gone over this," she replied, going to the walk-in closet to pick out an outfit to wear. "When I told you I was a witch as well as a Whitelighter, you accepted it. So, I don't need an argument with you about it, especially not today."

"I won't argue," he said, raising his hands in placation. "But I have to admit that, as much as you tell me and as hard as I try to, I still can't fully understand. At the end of the day, I'm just mortal."

"And you think it makes me think any less of you?" said Paige, choosing a white sleeveless shirt and black pants. She walked deeper into the closet, put on the shirt and pants, and walked back out, holding a pair of slip-on shoes in one hand and pulling her shirt down with the other. She put the shoes down. "Imagine how it would be if _you_ were a witch," she said, tucking her shirt into the top of her pants. "You'd have your own innocents to protect from demons, and that would take away any free time we might have together." She stopped and looked at Henry. "I'm very happy with the fact that you _are_ mortal. I just need you to be understanding of who I am and what I have to do."

He nodded with a little smile. "I get your point, Paige, but it's still hard for me to understand."

As she sat down on the bed to put on her shoes, Paige flashed on a conversation she had had with her ex-boyfriend, Glen, shortly after she had moved into Halliwell Manor. At first, he had refused to believe that she was truly a witch with powers. With his permission, she had used a _Stretch-the-Imagination_ spell from the Book of Shadows to make him realize the existence of magic. The spell had worked, but not in the way she expected; it had changed Glen into Reed Richards by giving him the ability to stretch himself physically across the length of a room. Fortunately, she was able to reverse the spell and return Glen to his normal self, but it was the reason why Paige was dead set against using magic on her husband in a similar circumstance.

She finished slipping her shoes on, and was about to respond to Henry's comment when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Paige said. She left the bedroom and crossed the living room to the front door. She opened it to see a grinning Billie Jenkins with a sports bag slung over her left shoulder, a potions pouch slung over the right, and her hand clutched around a luggage handle.

"Billie!" exclaimed Paige in delighted surprise.

"Hi, Paige," Billie fairly shouted. She dropped her luggage and threw her arms around Paige's shoulders. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" said Paige, returning the hug. She stepped back. "Come on in."

"Thank you," responded the young blonde. She picked up her luggage and entered the apartment with it.

"It's great to see you," Paige said, closing the front door. "But why didn't you go to the Manor first? Piper's willing to let you sleep in Phoebe's old room instead of the backyard."

Billie laughed softly. "I know," she said, nodding, "but I still feel bad about what I put her through, and I knew you wouldn't mind me hanging out here until it was time to go to your birthday gathering." She looked past Paige and glimpsed a still-unhappy Henry sitting on the bed. "Uh, did I come at a bad time?"

Paige glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the bedroom. "Oh, no, it's fine." She smiled. "Let me show you to the guest room."

"Guest room?" asked Billie, her green eyes going wide. "I know Henry had this place before he met you, but why would he need a guest room?"

"He uses it as an office; he has his computer and stuff in there. It's a bit cramped for space, but it's got a bed."

"Well, I won't need that since I'll be heading over to the Manor. I'd go to my dorm, but I'm not ready yet." Billie's face clouded and she heaved a sigh. "To be honest, I'd much rather vent my frustrations and all these other suppressed emotions first."

"Then let's go to the guest room," Paige suggested. "We can talk privately in there." She smiled in an attempt to lighten Billie's mood. "The computer won't mind a bit."

Billie chuckled and returned the smile. "Thanks," she said gratefully

Paige led the way to the guest room. When they entered, Billie saw it was exactly as Paige had described it. Henry's computer sat on a desk covered with stacks of reports; the "In" and "Out" baskets were overflowing with folders while beside the desk were stacked files on parolees Henry worked with. Against a wall stood several cabinets containing more files. On another side of the room, below a large office calendar marked off with appointments and court dates, was a bed aligned against the wall.

"So, how are you handling everything?" Paige asked, closing the door.

Billie plopped down on the bed. "Well, I've learned when to cry, when not to, and how to be strong. But I now understand Christy's actions." Billie leaned back against the wall and lowered her head, her eyes clouding again. "My big sister lived with demons for fifteen years, so for me to expect that any remnant of good still existed in her was just plain stupid. So I guess I've learned my biggest lesson: don't trust children who were raised by demons, whether those children are family or not." She raised her eyes to Paige. "But why does it have to hurt so much?"

"Because it's how we learn the most important lessons in life," answered Paige. She smiled gently. "Take it from one who knows."

"I'd be too scared to have my own kids because of what happened to Christy," Billie confessed.

"Well, I think the chances of that ever happening again range from slim to zero," said Paige reassuringly. She then remembered her husband. "Can I help you get settled in?"

"No, I can manage. Thanks."

Paige nodded, left the guest room, and returned to the bedroom. She knew her talk with Henry was not finished, but with Billie now in the apartment, Paige would make sure that she and her husband kept their voices down.

**(X) **

In an Underworld cave, Avo was pacing back and forth, plotting his next move, when a telepathic demon, Vilo shimmered in. Vilo was an accomplished telepath, who knew it'd be best to side with Avo. The chilling Underworld winds blew his long gray robes back and forth.

Avo turned to him. "Did you plant the thought in Piper Halliwell's mind?"

Vilo nodded. "She'll bump up the birthday dinner."

"Good," responded Avo. "The sooner that's done, the sooner we can set my plan into motion."

"May I ask a question?" Vilo said.

"Of course."

"How do you know about the Witchlighter's charges, and when to send a demon after them?"

"It's simple. I have sensing abilities; I track many charges, using my magic to learn if a particular charge is one of the Witchlighter's."

Vilo lifted his dark brows in surprise. "But if you can do that, then surely you can kill her charges by yourself."

"Yes, I can," Avo answered, "but I don't dare risk exposure. It's why I have other demons, like Sivor, attack them; it's to keep the Witchlighter thrown off the scent." He smiled slyly. "I knew that one charge of hers, the young male witch with the power of invisibility, would vanquish the lower-level demon I sent to attack him. The goal was to get Paige Matthews out of her home and make her mortal husband upset about it."

"What do you hope to accomplish?" asked Vilo.

"I want to provoke her into making a wish that will help her spouse understand."

"What if she doesn't? What if she wishes for something else, like world peace?"

Avo snorted with laughter at the very idea. "She won't, trust me. I have much faith in this plan, but I might manipulate the situation even more to my advantage. I'll need another demon to help."

"Let me!" Vilo said, brightening. "I can telepathically manipulate Paige into making the wish."

"No," replied Avo with a shake of his head. "The candles won't work with any magical interference."

Vilo gave the demonic Darklighter a confused look. "What candles?"

"These." Avo opened his hand; surrounded by swirling black orbs, three pink and white striped birthday candles materialized into his palm. He smiled darkly. "What can be more innocent? They're enchanted so the witches won't know. I'll replace three of the candles on the Witchlighter's cake with these, then sit back and watch my plan unfold."

"Brilliant," Vilo commented, shaking his head admiringly.

"I know," the Darklighter said in a cocky tone. He extended his free hand. "Now, let's bring in that other demon, shall we?"

Another demon shimmered in and immediately bowed down before Avo. "Your Greatness," he said, "how may I serve you?"

Avo chuckled. "You have to love cowardly demons," he commented to Vilo. "They act so loyal, it's hilarious."

Vilo chuckled slightly, if a bit nervously. He didn't want Avo thinking that of him as well.

**(X)**

In a glowing rain of orbs, Paige, Henry, and Billie materialized in the foyer of Halliwell Manor.

"Hello?" Paige shouted. "We're here!"

"Me too!" quipped an unseen Piper.

With a smile, Paige led her husband and Billie to the dining room. They entered to see pink and white party streamers hanging from the ceiling. Pink, white, and pink-and-silver foil birthday balloons were scattered about the room, anchored with little weights. The table was already set and laid out with food; Piper had suddenly phoned three hours earlier to say she was nearly finished making dinner and that it had to be eaten soon. The call had taken Paige back and she had asked if this was a surprise party after all, but Piper had given a reassuring no.

Piper emerged from the kitchen with a casserole, grinning as she caught sight of her youngest sister. "Hey, Paige!" she said as she placed it on the table. She went to Paige and enfolded her. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Piper," answered Paige, returning the embrace. She was truly comforted, though still curious as to why her sister was in such a rush to get the dinner party going.

"How are you, Henry?" Piper asked, giving him a hug of greeting.

"I'm good," he answered with a grin and a hug of his own.

It was then that Piper's gaze rested upon Billie, and Paige felt herself go tense. It had been three months since the final showdown pitting the Charmed Ones against the Ultimate Power comprised of Christy Jenkins and the kid sister she had brainwashed into thinking the Halliwells were evil. The savage battle had left the entire Manor in a shambles, Phoebe, Paige and Christy dead beneath the rubble, and the surviving Piper and Billie determined to magically change that outcome by going back in time. And they did, Piper with Coop's ring and Billie with her power of physical projection. Learning how the Triad and the demon Dumain had manipulated Christy and herself, Billie had tried unsuccessfully to get her sister to see reason. Christy and Dumain had then seized Coop's ring to time-travel back to save the Triad from the Halliwell sisters, but they were too late; the Charmed Ones and Billie arrived at exactly the same time to vanquish Dumain and the Triad. Enraged at her sister's betrayal, Christy had hurled an above average fireball at them. Left with no choice, Billie had deflected the lethal fire back at Christy, killing her in self-defense.

Shortly afterward, Billie had left for Chicago as the executor of her family's estate, also taking that time to mourn and reflect on what had happened. Then she had done an enormous amount of grief work and soul-searching as had been clear to Paige during their prior conversation. She hoped Piper could see past her anger to realize that too.

She needn't have worried. Having been present at Magic School to witness Billie's vanquishing of Christy, Piper no longer had the energy or the desire to continue hating someone when she now had the life she always wanted. In addition, when a grief-wracked Billie had projected herself back to Halliwell Manor, Piper had sat her down and calmly confronted her. The ensuing talk did a great deal to clear the air between them, and Piper had discovered there was really no need to exact any revenge or punishment; the loss of her entire family was punishment enough for Billie.

Now face-to-face with the young witch who stood before her with lowered eyes, the protégé who had betrayed the Charmed Ones' trust and paid an unbearable price for it, Piper subdued a twinge of anger and smiled warmly. "How are you, Billie?" she asked, reaching out to enclose the girl in a gentle hug.

Billie's face brightened and she stepped into Piper's embrace. "I'm okay, and you?" she said, her own arms wrapping themselves around the Charmed One's shoulders.

"Just fine," answered Piper. She stepped back and gazed at Billie. "How did the soul-searching work out?"

Billie gave a shrug and a little smile. "It wasn't necessarily soul-searching. It was actually more finding out who I really am and realizing that I truly am a good witch."

"I'd pretty much call that soul-searching, Billie," Piper said to her smilingly.

"And I'm sure she wasn't literally searching for a soul," a warm feminine voice joked from the staircase. Everyone turned and smiled as Phoebe Halliwell, her long dark hair thrown back over her shoulders, descended the stairs, wearing an indigo top, white pants, and white slip-on shoes. "In our world those two meanings can get a bit mixed up," she added with a knowing wink.

She went straight to Paige and hugged her. "Oh, happy birthday, sweetie," she said as her half-sister hugged her back.

"Thanks, Phoebe," Paige said as Phoebe released her. "I didn't expect you to be here so early. We pretty much rushed over here, so this is a nice surprise."

"I had Coop drop me off," explained Phoebe. "I was upstairs looking after the boys while Piper prepared the dinner. I just finished getting them dressed."

She then remembered Henry and Billie. "Oh, forgive me, I'm being rude." She and Henry shared a hug of greeting, and Phoebe turned her attention to Billie. She smiled warmly and pulled the girl into an embrace. "It's so good to see you, Billie."

"You too," Billie replied, returning the hug and the smile.

"And how is Mr. Cupid these days?" Paige asked.

"Busy shooting arrows from love's bow," Phoebe replied, laughing. "He'll be here later. Meanwhile, he told us to go on without him; he has potential lovers to unite."

"Cool," said Paige, looking around. "Where's Leo?"

"In the garage working on that dump of a car," answered Piper with a smirk.

"Excuse me?" interjected Leo's voice. "My _what_ of a car?"

All eyes turned to see Piper's husband coming through the front door, smeared from head to foot with motor oil and axel grease.

"Uh, your _hunk_ of a car," Piper said quickly, batting her eyelashes as she slapped on a cheesy smile, "your hunky, beautiful car."

Leo laughed along with everyone else. "What a horrible attempt at covering up!"

"Then I'll keep on being blunt," quipped Piper. Everybody laughed again.

The ex-Whitelighter-turned-auto mechanic grinned as he came up to his young sister-in-law. "Happy birthday, Paige," he said. "I'm going upstairs to change since I'm covered with filth."

"A shower wouldn't hurt either," Piper reminded him teasingly, causing another chorus of laughter from all present.

"I hear and obey," said Leo humorously. He smiled at his family. "I'll be back in twenty minutes," he said and jogged up the stairs.

Paige spotted a pile of wrapped gifts in a corner of the dining room. "Are those for me?" she asked innocently.

"I'll never tell," answered Phoebe in a coy tone.

"Yeah, don't amuse her, Phoebe," Henry joked. Paige slapped him on the chest and they joined in the others' laughter.

**(X)**

Twenty minutes later the adults were all sitting at the table, starting the meal, while Wyatt and Chris ate at the children's table in the conservatory. In between mouthfuls of Piper's excellent cuisine, the group engaged in small talk about Billie's stay in Chicago, Paige's Witchlighter destiny, Henry's parolees, the Giants, the 49ers, and plain old life in general.

The voices floated into the kitchen. Sitting on the island in the middle of the room was the white-frosted cake Piper had a local bakery make for Paige. It was trimmed along its edges with pink-frosting roses. _Happy Birthday Paige_ was written across its top in pink frosting, surrounded by five pink and white striped birthday candles in a finishing touch. Normally Piper would've made the cake, but the spell that was cast on her put her in a rush that wouldn't have given her the time.

Avo and the minion demon materialized beside the cake. "Keep an ear out at the dining room," whispered the demonic Darklighter. "Warn me if anyone comes this way."

The minion nodded and posted himself beside the kitchen door.

Turning to the candles on the cake before him, Avo black-orbed three into his hand and replaced them with the enchanted ones. He then turned to the minion.

"I've planted the candles," he hissed. "Make your move." The minion nodded as Avo dark-orbed away.

Spotting Piper's butcher knife on the kitchen counter, the minion grabbed it and charged into the dining room.

Phoebe heard the sound of running footsteps and turned to see the demon burst into the room and make straight for her, brandishing the butcher knife. Yelling a warning to the others, she leaped up from her seat, grabbed her dinner plate, and threw it into his face. She then seized the demon's hand, holding the knife, trying to wrestle it out of his grip.

Piper, now on her feet, thrust out both hands. "Move, Phoebe! I'll blast him!" she shouted.

Billie, Leo, and Henry had already jumped up from their chairs, and Henry rushed the demon.

"Henry, no!" cried Paige.

He ignored her. Tackling the demon to the floor like the high-school football player he had once been, Henry wrestled the butcher knife out of the intruder's hand. The demon, however, was stronger than Henry had expected; he effortlessly threw Paige's husband off of him and leaped to his feet. Henry hurled the knife at the demon, but the being shimmered out of its path and the butcher knife plunged into the dining room wall.

"Huh?" exclaimed Henry, looking around him. "Where'd he go?"

Suddenly, the demon shimmered in behind Henry, a fireball blazing in his hand. "That's for _me_ to know," he said with a dark smirk. He hurled the fireball; it hit the parole officer in the back and sent him flying into the wall. Henry then landed on the floor with a thud.

"Henry!" Paige shouted as she ran to him.

Leo pounced on the minion and floored him with a haymaker. Mildly fazed by the blow, the demon leaped up and retaliated by launching a fireball at the ex-Whitelighter.

"No you don't!" shouted Piper. She flashed out both hands and froze the fireball in mid-flight. "Billie!" she called over her shoulder.

"I got it!" the girl answered. With a sweep of her arm, she telekinetically sent the fireball into the demon, but to Piper's and Billie's surprise, it didn't vanquish him. He merely fell to the floor and got up again.

Piper stared at him. "Why didn't he blow up?"

"I don't know," Billie said. She spotted the butcher knife embedded in the wall. "But maybe this will do the trick." She extended her hand, telekinetically pulled the knife out of the wall, and launched it at the demon to stab him in the chest. He roared in pain and staggered, clawing at the knife.

Piper finished the job by exploding the demon with a flick of her hands. "When a fireball and a kitchen knife fail, trust in your power to blow up the bastard," she said to herself in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Paige knelt over her motionless husband, her hands hovering over his back. "Don't you dare die on me," she said tensely as gold light emanated from her palms. She moved them along the wounds, watching as the healing glow bathed and closed them. She gave a deep sigh of relief when Henry grunted, and turned him over to glare at him.

"Are you crazy?" she scolded. "That was not smart, Henry Mitchell!"

"Don't talk to me like I'm five years old!" Henry retorted. "You're my wife, not my mother!"

"Why would you risk your life like that?" Paige shot back. "What the hell made you think you could take that demon on? He could have killed you!"

"I wanted to prove my worth to you, Paige!" Henry snapped as he picked himself up. "You always make it seem like you never need any help with fending off these demons."

"You're mortal, Henry!" Paige protested. "You keep forgetting that!"

"And you keep forgetting we're a couple!" Henry shouted. "One day you'll need me to help you fight these guys! And if that makes me a bad husband, then I'm sorry!"

Paige turned to her sisters. "Please back me up," she implored. "Tell him he's wrong."

"But he's not," Phoebe said.

Paige's brown eyes widened. "What?" she exclaimed.

"She's right," Piper joined in. "Henry has a point." She nodded at her husband. "Look at Leo. He didn't want to sit around twiddling his thumbs after he fell from grace, remember?"

"No, I didn't," Leo agreed. "Piper tried to keep me safe after I became mortal. But I felt useless and wanted to pull my weight."

"And I couldn't stop you," said Piper, "no matter what I did -- crystal cages, Magic School. In the end I realized it wasn't your place to be sheltered." She turned to her sister. "You should be proud of Henry, Paige, cautious but proud."

Henry scowled at Paige. "See?" he told her. "You think I should be stuck at home, waiting for you to come back." He turned and marched out of the dining room.

"Where are you going?" Paige called after him.

"Out for some air," he answered. He left the Manor, slamming the front door shut.

There were several minutes of awkward silence, and then Paige sighed miserably. "Well, this has turned into one fantastic birthday, hasn't it?"

Phoebe put a supportive arm around her sister's shoulders. "Sweetie, this can be fixed," she said gently. "It's not too late. You and Henry have made a few mistakes and --"

"Uh, Phoebe," Paige interrupted. "No offense, I know the whole advice thing is what you get paid for, but I don't want to hear what a screw-up I am, and especially not today."

"I'm not telling you this because I'm a columnist; I'm telling you this because you're my baby sister. You and Henry have only been married for five months. You're both going through a period of adjustment, where newlyweds make the transition from being single to being a couple." Phoebe smiled reassuringly. "Despite what you see in the movies, it's not easy, so marital problems are expected and totally understandable."

"We don't think you're a screw-up, Paige," added Piper, "and you can't afford to think that either."

"I know. I'm a fantastic witch and a damn good Whitelighter, but a wife on top of it?" Paige shook her head. "I don't know if it can work." And she wanted to change the subject. "Can we cut the cake now?"

"Don't you want to wait for Henry to come back?" Piper asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Why? He left on his own; I didn't throw him out," Paige said as she returned to her seat and sat down.

Piper exchanged concerned glances with Billie, Leo, and Phoebe. "If you say so," Piper said. She disappeared into the kitchen to get the cake as Leo went to get Wyatt and Chris from the conservatory who stayed hidden from the attack.

Paige sat silently, tapping the table with her fork. On one hand she knew she was right, and the other she knew Henry was right. But at the moment it didn't matter who was right. He had walked away and she felt horrible.

At a signal from Phoebe, Billie switched off the lights. A soft yellow glow appeared as Piper emerged from the kitchen, carrying the cake with its five lit candles. She, Leo, Billie, and Phoebe began singing _Happy Birthday_ to Paige, the little boys attempting to sing along. Paige smiled as the cake was placed down before her, her wounded feelings soothed by the family love that still presided in the room. When the song was finished, she stood to make her wish.

She closed her eyes. _I wish Henry could understand magic as I do_, she thought. With that, she leaned forward and blew out the candles, unaware of the dark magic she had just set into motion. Unaware of it as well, everyone else clapped.

"Presents!" Billie shouted gleefully.

"Nope, cake first," laughed Leo, handing Paige the cake knife.

**(X)**

Avo looked at Vilo, who sat with his eyes closed in concentration. The demonic Darklighter then gazed around his Underworld surroundings in anticipation.

The telepathic demon opened his eyes. "She wants her husband to understand magic as she does," he announced.

"And she'll get her wish," Avo said, smiling as twin demons in black suits, black shirts, and silk ties shimmered into view.

Avo nodded to them. "Power Brokers, welcome. Thank you for being prompt."

"Why are we here?" asked the first Broker.

"A Charmed One's birthday wish summoned you. I want you to make it come true."

The Brokers raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Help a Charmed One?" said the second one. "You can't be serious."

"I'm quite serious," replied Avo.

"What are we to do?" the first Broker asked. "Give her more power?"

"No, you're to give her husband his own gifts. She wants him to understand magic; what better way than by giving him powers that will unstabilize and then kill him?" He smiled. "Brilliant, don't you think?"

Vilo looked at his overlord curiously. "I don't understand. Why did you need enchanted birthday candles? Couldn't you have simply summoned the Brokers yourself?"

"If I had, then the Witchlighter would have found out and come looking for me. It's much better that she blames herself for what will happen to her husband." He gazed ahead of him thoughtfully. "I must admit, it's interesting to watch the Witchlighter's powers unfold; I didn't think it would be. I'm definitely learning more about her."

"So, the Charmed One's mate is human?" The first Broker asked and received his answer from a nod from Avo.

"What shall we give him?" the second Broker asked. "Fireballs? Energy balls? Lightning bolts?"

Avo smiled. "Lightning bolts are perfect; they use the most energy. Can you also throw in a teleportation power?"

"We can," the first Broker said with a nod.

"Excellent, then proceed," said Avo. "If I kill the Witchlighter's husband, she'll be too upset to track me. And as a result, she'll be weak enough to be felled by a demonic attack." Avo smiled. His plan was coming together and soon Henry would be a powerful being who would target his aggression at the person who's upset him the most…Paige.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please Read and Review this chapter giving me your thoughts before you proceed to the next. **


	5. Henry Almighty

**Chapter 5- Henry Almighty** (of the **A Wish Gone Wrong** Two-Parter)

**August 2****nd**** 2006 (following directly after Chapter 4)**

Paige sat in a wicker chair in the conservatory, enjoying her gifts: Clothes, a new pack of tarot cards, an Eternal Light lamp from the Heavens given by Piper and Leo (which required persuading from the Elders), a cream to magically heal any wounds Paige may receive, and a weekend at the spa.

"Thank you so much," Paige said, hugging her sisters and Leo one by one.

"And this is my gift," Billie said.

Paige gasped at what Billie placed in her hands: a beautiful blue crystal that shot off small beams of white light and looked as though it contained orbs within it. "What is it?"

"It's a crystal I had a sorceress enchant specifically for you," answered Billie, smiling. "It reads your powers, shows you how tuned in you are to them." She grinned at the crystal. "And from the look of it, I'd say you're tuned in pretty damned well."

"If I lost my powers, the light inside the crystal would vanish?" Paige asked.

Billie nodded. "It also detects your magic. So, if you think a demon has your powers, look at the crystal. It'll tell you."

Paige grinned. "I can use something like this." She hugged Billie. "It's great! Thanks!"

Then she saw a sealed envelope, the one gift left. "Envelope," she called, extending her hand; the envelope orbed into her grasp. She read aloud the handwriting on it, _"To My Wife on Her Birthday."_

"Is that the surprise from Henry?" Billie blurted.

"Billie!" Phoebe reproached her. The girl blushed and clamped her hands over her mouth.

"A surprise from Henry?" asked Paige.

"You sound like he never gives you anything," Piper commented amusedly.

"No, he showers me with presents, but you make this sound like a _huge_ surprise," Paige replied as she opened the envelope. She gasped as she pulled out a photo of a white house with a black roof and a beautiful front lawn. She flipped the picture over, her eyes bugging as she read aloud, _"Our new home." _

She stared at her sisters, Billie and Leo, who smiled at her. "You knew?"

"Piper and I helped Henry choose it several weeks ago," said Leo. "He originally planned to go house-hunting with you, but he wanted to surprise you on your birthday,"

"He told me how you needed more space to practice your witchcraft," Piper added, "and how much you both wanted a house of your own."

Paige's eyes brimmed with joyful tears. "I have to find Henry," she said, putting the photo back inside the envelope. "And I'm going to apologize when I do. Is that okay that I go?"

"Sure," nodded Piper with a smile. "I can use this time to go to P3 to work on shipment orders."

"I'm heading up to Magic School," Billie announced.

Paige turned to her in alarm. "You can't! That place is Demon Central!" Demon Central was always said as the school didn't even appear as a school anymore. No more students, only forces of Evil.

"That's why I'm going. I want to lay traps so I can reclaim the school from Evil."

"No, Paige is right," Piper said. "It's not a one-witch job. I'd come out of retirement to help, but now isn't the time. Paige has to find Henry, I have to head to the club --"

"And I have to go home," Phoebe interjected, "to reply to a letter or three. But, Billie, I promise we'll all save the school when the time is right."

Billie sighed in defeat. "Okay," she said, looking crestfallen.

"I have to get going if I'm to find Henry," Paige said, rising from her chair. "I'll call you guys later."

She ran out the front door.

**(X)**

Henry walked along the sidewalk, going wherever it took him.

An audible growl came from his stomach. _Damn, _he thought ruefully,_ I should have finished dinner._ He crossed a street and caught the smell of food. He turned in the direction of the odor and spotted, through an alleyway, a diner directly across the street from the alley. "Oh, good," he said, smiling with relief.

As he walked through the alley toward the diner, the two Power Brokers shimmered in behind him. Each opened his hand, conjured a glowing sphere, hurled them straight at the parole officer's back, and shimmered out.

Henry stumbled as the spheres hit him and were absorbed by his body. He fell onto his hands and knees, feeling an odd rush as the magic released by the Power Brokers flashed through his entire body in a white glow. When the sensation had passed, Henry picked himself up from the rough ground and turned to see what he had tripped over. He saw nothing. Puzzled, he brushed the dirt from his jeans and was about to continue on to the diner when he felt a vibration in his pocket and realized it was his pager. He saw the phone number; the head of Henry's parole department was calling him.

Henry opened his cell phone. "Mitchell," he responded. "Hey, Ben, what's up?"

"Something you won't believe," said Ben on the other end. "Carol's been spotted."

"Carol?" Henry asked, concern spreading across his face. Carol Franks was a problem parolee, a hot-tempered woman who tended to get into fights. She used baseball bats, but never in self-defense. She was always the perpetrator. For the last several weeks, Carol had been evasive, not meeting with Henry when she was supposed to, not being at home when he came looking for her, and generally dropping out of sight. So, he was a bit shocked that she had been seen in public. "When was this?"

"About three minutes ago. A woman had called 911 to say she was being chased by a man. Apparently she was screaming for help; someone saw her being chased and phoned the police. SFPD's sending a squad car, but they called me first to say she was one of ours."

"How do they know it's her?"

"How many blonde women in San Francisco have a green baseball bat tattooed on their foreheads?"

Henry sighed. "That's Carol all right. Where was she seen?"

"Garrison Street. Get over there." Ben hung up.

Henry groaned and rolled his eyes. "I don't have my car! How am I supposed to get there?"

Suddenly, a violet glow enveloped his body and he teleported away.

Henry had only a moment to recover from his unexpected journey into an alley before a woman's scream reached his ears. He turned to see Carol Franks across the busy street, running from a man in black jeans and a gray top.

Just then, Paige orbed in behind him. "There you are!" she said as she looked around at the street that was very distant from the Halliwell manor. "How did you get here without your car?"

"Not now, Paige!" Henry shouted, charging out of the alley.

"Henry!" Paige shouted and took off after him.

Henry raced into the street, drivers honking their horns as he darted in and out of traffic. He dodged a red mini-van, skidded to a stop to let a silver Toyota pass, and continued across the street at a run. Suddenly, a supply truck bore down upon him, its horn blaring. Henry leaped forward and flipped onto his back in a roll; the truck whizzed by, just missing him. At Carol's scream he jumped up and ran into the alley to see her sprawled on the ground and her pursuer standing over her with a knife, ready to strike.

"Hey!" Henry shouted.

The man spun around, snarled angrily, and threw a fireball at the parole officer.

Henry realized he faced a demon. "Whoa!" he yelped and jumped sideways, landing on his side as the lethal fire exploded into a wall. The demon let fly with another fireball, which Henry dodged by rolling quickly to the side.

Paige came running down the alley. "Henry!" she called. She saw her husband on the ground and the demon a short distance away from him. "Oh my god!" The Charmed One gasped as the demon growled and flung a fireball at her.

"No!" Henry shouted, reaching out. To his amazement a lightning bolt shot from his hand and blasted the astonished demon's fireball into oblivion. The parole officer stared at his hand. "What the hell?" he murmured, seeing tiny electric currents leaping from finger to finger.

Paige ran up to him and knelt beside him. "Henry! Are you all right?"

"I'm --" he began, but then saw the demon conjure another fireball. "Look out!" he cried as the being hurled it at them. Paige grabbed her husband and orbed them both away; the fireball exploded into a wall.

They came out of orb to the sound of an approaching police siren. "I'll finish this," said Paige. Extending her a hand, she shouted "Demon" and orbed him into a wall. He thudded hard on the ground and lay stunned.

"Spell-winging time," Paige muttered. "Demon before me --"

She gasped and jumped as two lightning bolts shoot past her and hit the demon, vanquishing him. She turned to see her husband on his knees, both hands extended.

"Henry!" Paige exclaimed, staring at him in astonishment. "You --"

"You bet I did!" he said gleefully. "And just how freaking cool was it?"

"It isn't! How did it happen?"

Before he could answer, a squad car pulled up outside the alley; two police officers stepped out and approached. Henry caught their eyes going to Carol, who lay motionless on the ground, and back to Paige and himself.

"It's all right," he said calmly. "I'm a parole officer. My badge is in my inside pocket." One of the police officer's walked over to Henry, reached inside his jacket pocket and produced Henry's wallet when he pulled his hand out. He inspected the insides and handed it back to Henry, satisfied.

"And I'm his wife," Paige added.

The two policemen nodded, went to Carol, and knelt down beside her. One of them stood and approached Henry and Paige. "What happened here?" he asked.

"My wife and I were out walking," Henry said without missing a beat, "when my superior called me on my cell to tell me that a delinquent parolee of mine, Carol Franks, had been spotted on this street." He gestured at the blonde woman on the ground. "That's her. My wife and I weren't too far away, so we came here. As we approached this alley, we heard Carol scream. We ran to help her and saw her on the ground with a man standing over her with a knife. He took off when he saw us."

"Can you describe the suspect?" the officer asked.

Henry and Paige glanced at each other; never in a million years would the policeman ever believe that Henry's parolee had been attacked by a demon. "He left too quickly for us to get a good look," Henry said, feeling a twinge of guilt at the deception. "All I can tell you is that he wore a grey top with black jeans."

"Is she going to be all right?" asked Paige, looking at the inert blonde woman.

"The policeman turned toward his partner, who was examining Carol. "How is she?"

"She's alive," the first officer said, "but she's unconscious. She's got a bad wound on the back of her head. I'll radio for an ambulance."

**(X)**

A short time later, Carol Franks was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, diagnosed with a head injury that had been inflicted by a blunt instrument. Since Carol still had her purse, the policemen believed Henry and Paige had interrupted a mugging in progress. After they had answered more questions, Paige discretely orbed her husband and herself back to the foyer of Halliwell Manor. They walked into the living room, where Billie sat on the couch with her feet propped on the coffee table, watching a movie on cable TV.

Hearing their footsteps, Billie turned and brightened. "Hey, there you are!" she said, flashing a smile at quickly faded when she saw their expressions. "What's up?" 

"Something fishy," Paige answered. "Henry now has magical powers."

Billie gaped at them both. "What?!" she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

Paige nodded grimly. "Somehow he gained the ability to teleport and shoot lightning bolts. I have to figure out how he got them and strip him of them."

"Strip me of them?" Henry interjected. "Paige, these are my powers! How do you know they weren't meant for me?"

"You're mortal, Henry; you've been so all your life," countered Paige. "And you suddenly get _powers?_ That spells f-i-s-h-y to me!"

"I was adopted, like you were, so maybe I'm from a witch family too and I'm now coming into powers meant to be used on demons." He became passionate. "Who knows? Maybe I'll find my real family one day and discover I have two brothers who I was meant to join as part of a male Power of Three! Maybe _their_ first names start with 'H' --"

"Henry, this is ridiculous!" Paige interrupted. "You're not a male witch and you're certainly not a male Charmed One! I think a sorcerer or a demon gave you these powers!"

A horrible thought suddenly flashed through her mind. _Could it be Power Brokers that did this? _ Five years earlier, shortly after Phoebe had married Cole Turner, Paige had discovered that Cole had reverted back to his old demonic ways, only at that time she hadn't been aware of just how demonic; the vanquished Source of All Evil had taken possession of Cole's body. Realizing Paige had stumbled upon this, the Source had a Power Broker infect her with the demonic ability to shoot sonic blasts. The Source had played with her mind to make her violent enough to attack him with the power. When it began to kill her, her family had taken her down to the Underworld to make the Brokers remove it from her. They had refused until the Source, to keep Leo, Piper, and Phoebe unaware that he had taken over Cole, blew up a Broker or two until they had exorcised the power from Paige, leaving her with no memory of her actions while she had been infected.

She turned to Billie. "Go upstairs to the Book of Shadows. Look up Power Brokers and get started on an exorcism potion."

"Power Brokers?" the girl asked "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Probably because you studied our Book for as long as you did. Now, hurry to the attic and make that potion. I need it quickly before Henry's new powers kill him."

As Billie ran past the couple, Henry turned to his wife. "Who the hell are Power Brokers?" he demanded.

"They're demons that trade in powers. They store them in mortal people until a buyer wants them, but the powers can make mortals unstable and --"

"You know what, Paige?" he cut in. "I don't even care. You're not taking my powers!"

Paige felt a chill go down her spine when she saw her husband's face. It was a mask of pure rage; sparks of energy danced in his eyes.

"Henry, calm down. You don't understand what these powers can do. In mortals they get out of hand and make those people really --"

Henry didn't let her finish; he raised a hand and shot a lightning bolt straight at her. She leaped out of its way and took cover behind the couch.

"You don't trust me, Paige!" he growled. "You always think that because I'm mortal I can't handle anything magical. Well, I'll show you what I can do with these powers. I'll be great. You just watch!" Henry shot another bolt at the couch, blasting a hole through it. Paige screamed in pain as the bolt hit her shoulder and caused a bloody gash.

The sound of running footsteps came seconds later. "Paige!" Billie shouted as she and Leo entered the living room. Leo dived for cover as Henry whirled and let fly with a lightning bolt at Billie. She quickly deflected it into the near-by grandfather clock, blasting it to smithereens.

"This isn't over!" declared Henry as he teleported out with a dark scowl.

Leo came out of hiding to scan the living room. "Paige?" he called. "Where are you?"

"Behind the couch," she answered.

"Are you okay?" asked Billie, both she and Leo following the sound of Paige's voice. They found her cowering behind the couch and helped her up. Billie gasped when she saw the bloody gash in Paige's shoulder. "Oh my god! Leo, go to the medicine cabinet and --"

"Hold on," he interrupted and looked at Paige. "What happened? How did Henry get those powers?

"I think Power Brokers got to him," Paige explained.

"Why did he attack you?"

"The powers are making him unstable."

"I barely got a chance to start the exorcism potion," said Billie, "let alone finish it."

Paige shook her head worriedly. "I can't wait; I have to stop Henry now. He's out to prove himself with his new powers. I don't know what he plans to do, but it can't be good. Maybe I can sense him and then orb to him."

"Or we can go down to the Underworld and confront the Brokers like we did before," Leo said.

"But where are they down there? It's not like we know their hangout."

"Yeah," Billie added. "I haven't spent much time in the Underworld. I'm more of a Magic School-type chick."

"I'll get my sisters," Paige said. "Piper's freezing power might fend off Henry's attacks without hurting him."

"No," Billie said. "You don't want them back in the demon-fighting business just yet. Let me help. Leo can have Piper come home, finish the potion, and give us a call when it's done."

"Billie's right," Leo concurred. "Let her help out. I'll call Piper at the club."

Paige ran her hands through her hair. "Okay, here we go." Hoping their bond was still strong, she closed her eyes and tried to sense her husband's location. After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes. "Nothing," she sighed.

"That might mean he's in the Underworld," said Leo. "You'll have to go down there. You'll have a better chance at sensing him."

"Let's get some grenade potions before we go," Billie suggested. "We might need more of a punch."

Paige nodded and looked at the gash in her arm. "I guess I can use my healing cream now. Phoebe must've seen this one coming." The two women went upstairs.

Leo was about to make his way to the phone when Piper entered, carrying a box of supplies from the club. Her face fell when she saw the destroyed grandfather clock.

"That's it," she muttered. "From here on, whatever demon wrecks it, buys it."

**(X)**

Paige and Billie came out of orb inside an Underworld cave, armed for battle with fully-stocked potion pouches slung over their shoulders, a vial already in Paige's hand in case she needed a quick vanquish. With two vials of her own out and ready, Billie was set to use them and her telekinesis on any Underworld evil that dared show its face. In her boot slit was a dagger in case she had to use that as well.

Paige stood with her eyes closed, concentrating. "Can you sense Henry?" Billie asked.

A screaming wind came up from nowhere and buffeted them. "I don't like this," commented Billie, looking around her warily.

"Me neither, but we can't chicken out. We have to find Henry before he gets himself killed." Paige braced herself against the wind and continued to stretch her Whitelighter sense. Suddenly, she opened her eyes. "I feel a pull."

She held her free hand out in front of her, using it to channel her sensing power, and felt what seemed like a magnetic tug that filled her with hope. "I think I may have – "

Suddenly, a trio of demons flamed in before Paige and Billie, but Paige didn't lower her hand. "Demons!" she called and telekinetically orbed them into a wall of the cave. As they crashed onto the ground, Billie hurled one of her vials and hit one demon in his chest, vanquishing him in a fiery blast.

Undeterred, the two other demons scrambled to their feet and launched a series of energy balls at the women. Billie dodged them by diving into the air and flipping over onto her back.

"Energy balls!" shouted Paige, still extending her free hand. She orbed the lethal energies to her before sending them back at the two demons with a sweep of her arm. The balls crashed into the pair, exploding them on impact.

Billie grinned up at Paige from the ground. "That's always so cool," she said as Paige approached and helped her to her feet.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of screams coming from ahead of them. "The wind again?" Billie asked.

Paige extended her hand and gave a grin of her own. "Judging by the pull, I'm guessing it's my husband kicking ass. Come on!"

The women charged through the cave and entered another, where they spotted seven demons peaking over boulders and launching energy and fireballs. At the other end of the cave stood their target: Henry, exploding the balls in mid-air with lightning bolts.

"You tackle the demons," Paige said to Billie. "I'm going to try and stop Henry."

Billie nodded. She pulled her dagger out from her boot, charged at the demons, and engaged them in a fierce battle.

Paige began running toward her husband. "Henry!" she called. "Henry, stop!"

He turned and aimed at her a pair of hands that surged with electricity. "No! This ends here!" Several massive bolts blasted forth, flashing jaggedly across the cave. Paige quickly orbed out of the way and the bolts ripped into the wall, leaving in their wake a cloud of smoke and rock debris.

Paige rematerialized and continued to approach her husband. "Henry, please stop!" she pleaded. "You don't know what you're doing. It's the powers making you act this way."

"Save your breath!" Henry bellowed. He released another bolt at Paige before she could orb -– and the bolt came to a sudden stop.

Paige stood frozen, too shocked to react, until she heard a familiar voice drolly comment, "That's no way to treat a wife on her birthday." She turned and sighed with relief to see Piper a short distance away, her hands extended before her. Beside Piper stood Phoebe with a potion vial in her hand.

"Need help?" Piper asked her youngest sister with a grin.

Paige ran to them and threw her arms around them. "Am I glad to see you! Did Leo tell you about the potion?"

"Yep," Phoebe said, showing the vial. "We have to make sure Henry doesn't destroy it."

Ducking a fireball, Billie came running up to them, her face and clothing covered with dirt. Panting, she gestured with her head toward three remaining demons, armed with more fireballs. "I've already vanquished four of them. But I don't know if I can still handle this. Those guys are _nasty_!"

The demons hurled the fireballs at Billie and the Charmed Ones; the quartet dodged them. "I see what you mean," said Phoebe wryly.

A blinding white bolt suddenly tore into the wall beside them. The women darted behind a large boulder and peered around it to see Henry shoot more lightning bolts in their direction, several of them threatening to blast the boulder into a series of pebbles. Piper continued to freeze them until the surviving demons began hurling more fireballs.

"This is getting out of hand," she said. She flicked her hands at Henry, unleashing a controlled blast that knocked him to the ground. Paige gasped in shock.

"Sorry, Paige, it had to be done," said Piper. She then gestured at the fallen Henry with her head. "Phoebe, the potion if you please."

With all her strength, Phoebe threw the potion vial across the twelve-foot distance separating them from Henry. But he rolled over onto his back, saw the vial flying at him, and exploded it in mid-air with a lightning bolt.

"Damn it," Piper cursed in frustration.

Now armed with blazing fireballs, the remaining three demons rushed at the Charmed Ones and Billie. As Henry blasted more lightning bolts, Paige swiftly extended her hand, pointing at the bolts, and swept her arm in the direction of the oncoming demons. Several of the bolts orbed into them, exploding them on the spot, while others tore into the cave wall.

Her sisters and Billie stared in utter amazement. "Wow! How did you do that, Paige?" asked Billie as Piper whistled in awe.

"Uh, yeah," interjected an astonished Phoebe. "You didn't even call out to them."

Paige shrugged, looking just as surprised. "I don't know. I simply went on instinct and --"

"Look out!" Phoebe suddenly shouted. All four women flung themselves to the ground once again and lightning bolts sizzled by, above their heads. They looked up to see Henry still firing away, but he was now looking weak and tired. He was breathing heavily, fighting to stay on his feet.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Paige in horror. "Look at his eyes!"

They did and, to their own horror, they saw that Henry's eyes were no longer filled with blazing sparks. His gaze had suddenly gone black. "The powers are starting to kill him," Piper said tensely. "If we don't get them out of him –"

Paige didn't wait to hear any more. Spotting the puddle of potion a short distance away from the boulder, she took advantage of her husband's weakened condition. As he uttered a groan, she waved her hand at the puddle and orbed it directly into his open mouth. Henry swallowed it with a startled gulp and fell to the ground, glowing whitely as the powers were released from him.

Paige raced to him and gathered him into her arms. "Henry! Are you all right?" She felt bad about orbing a puddle that was on the filthy ground into his mouth, but it had to be done, even if he got sick again. She seemed to be becoming an expert in orbing life-saving fluids into him.

He looked at her, confusion in his now-normal eyes. "Paige?" he said. "What's going on?" He tried to sit up, but slumped back into his wife's embrace. "Whoa, I feel so spent, foggy. What happened to me?" He gazed about him and his eyes went wide. "Uh, why do I think this is not a diner?"

Paige laughed with relief, hugging him tightly, as an equally relieved Piper, Phoebe, and Billie looked on with smiles.

**(X)**

Hours later, Paige, Henry, Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Coop were seated in the living room of the manor, discussing the day's events and explaining to Henry what had happened.

He turned to his wife, shamefaced. "I am so sorry," he apologized. "You know I can get mad, but never to the point where I would ever harm you in any way."

"I know," Paige sighed. "But some of this is my fault. My birthday wish was for you to understand both magic and me, and in a way it came true. The problem is that my wish was a form of personal gain, so as a result it came with consequences. I'm glad no one got hurt, though." She smiled. "You even managed to save your parolee, an Innocent."

Henry shook his head wonderingly. "I never thought Carol would be chased by a demon. Why did it happen?"

"Maybe the demon thought she was a Potential Recruit for Evil," suggested Leo.

"A Potential Recruit?" Henry said, puzzled.

Leo nodded. "Mortals who demons feel they can lure to their side to use for their purposes. Your parolee must have resisted him, which is probably why he wanted her dead."

Coop decided to change the subject and gave Henry and Paige a smile. "Have you decided whether or not you'll be moving into the new house?"

"I'm all for it," Henry said. He smiled at Paige. "I'm waiting for the birthday girl's decision, but it doesn't have to be made right now."

Paige sat back, pretending to ponder the question. "Hmm, an extra room to practice my witchcraft in would be useful, so I say we go for it." Her family smiled as she pulled her husband to her for a kiss. "A two-story house sounds great! Thank you, Henry."

"You're welcome," he replied, returning the kiss with a grin. "Happy birthday, Paige."

**(X) **

Hands folded behind his back, Avo, accompanied by Vilo, materialized in the Power Brokers' lair and confronted the duo he had sent after Henry. "The Witchlighter has saved her husband's life," he said to them angrily.

"That's not our fault!" the first Broker protested loudly.

"Yeah, it isn't!" shot back the second Broker.

Vilo, his eyes closed during the brief exchange, opened them. "They're scared, Avo," he sneered. "Trying to be bold, they are."

"They bore me," said Avo contemptuously. "And this is what I do to demons who bore me as well as fail me." From behind his back he produced a pair of violet-colored fireballs.

"Thermal balls," he snarled. "An appropriate punishment for failure!"

"No! Don't!" begged the second Broker.

Avo savagely hurled the thermal balls at the Brokers. They screamed as they were engulfed in flames that exploded and left behind nothing except a few curling wisps of purple smoke.

The Darklighter-demon turned to his wide-eyed, frightened minion. "Don't worry. I'll spare you. Come. We must discuss our next move."

Avo dark-orbed away, the intimidated Vilo shimmered out behind him.

**End of Chapter**

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review as punishment for me posting the chapters late. –Smiles- Seriously, please review and comment what you like and such. Thanks readers who review. I really appreciate it. Also thanks to everyone that has been putting my story on alert, adding it to their favorites and adding me to your favorite authors list. I really appreciate it.**


	6. Paiges to Be Written

**A/Note: Hey, Readers, sorry this chapter took a while as it was under editing. My editor has a life and I thank her for making time to do this. I hope you all consider it worth it as it was a really fun chapter to write. (Here's a little teaser: Next Gen.) Enjoy and please Read and Review with your comments.**

**(Updated 10/29/07-- The update is noted at the end of the chapter.)**

**Chapter 6- Paiges to be Written**

_**Present Day, August 28th, 2006**_

A hard rain pummeled San Francisco as Paige Matthews busied herself with setting up the altar room in her new white two-story home. The house consisted of four bedrooms, about fourteen feet long and nine feet wide, and a bathroom on the second floor. On the first floor were the dining, kitchen, conservatory, living room, and a simple bathroom. There was also a basement, but Henry and Paige had no plans for it at present. At the moment it sufficed as a storeroom for their unpacked boxes.

Paige's altar room was nearly set up. There was a four-foot oak table on which sat a black iron cauldron, crystal bowls containing herbs and other magical ingredients, a candle flicker, a spoon, a measuring cup, and a small brown leather potions book containing notes Paige had copied from her sister Phoebe and the Halliwell family's Book of Shadows. Across the room was a bureau containing empty potion vials as well as those holding the standards: potions to create explosions, transportation, smoke-bombs, and electric shocks. There was more magical equipment to add, but Paige saw the arrangement would work for the time being.

She went over to another box, opened it, and removed five white-tipped blue candles. As she placed them in the bottom corner of the room, a rain-dampened Billie Jenkins entered, carrying under her arm a brown wooden box with a gold-inlayed design on the top of its lid.

"I got the crystals," she announced. She looked out the window and sighed, brushing a strand of wet blonde hair out of her face. "Who knew liquid sunshine could be such a pain in the butt?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," the Witchlighter said with a sheepish chuckle. "I didn't know it was going to rain. It's what I get for ignoring the weatherman. Did you get the amethyst?"

"Sure did, everything on the list," Billie said as she handed Paige the box holding the pyrite crystals. "Your demon snare is in the box, your boosted scrying crystal, and the herbs you wanted."

"You're a doll, Billie, thank you," Paige said. She scanned the items in the box and arched an eyebrow. "Where're the amethyst and the herbs?"

Billie slapped her forehead. "Oops, my turn to apologize." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a violet amethyst, and three plastic packages containing bonsai tree leaves, burdock root, and eel skin. She handed Paige the items and gazed about the room. "Everything looks great."

"Thanks," said Paige with a smile. "And how's _your _room doing?" She and Henry had allowed Billie to stay at their house for a while because they had the extra room and the girl wasn't ready to head back to school yet. Paige also knew she could use her charge's help while adjusting to her new magical destiny.

"It's coming along fine. I have everything practically set up: bed, TV, and magical notes. I got a couple candles in there as well. Not much, but it'll do for starters." She smiled. "Thanks again for letting me stay."

"No problem," said Paige, placing the box containing the pyrite-crystal cage next to one of three windows in the room.

"Well, I'm outta here," Billie said. "My cell phone is on. Call if you need anything."

Paige eyed her curiously. "Where are you going?"

"I'm following a lead," answered Billie. "It's no biggie, just a Scavenger demon. I'm going to strap on several daggers in case I have to cut his power-draining green whip. I'll call you when he's vanquished." She turned on her heel and walked away.

Paige shook her head as her charge's retreating back disappeared through the door. _That girl's going to get herself killed one day, _she thought with a rueful sigh. After making her final touches, she left the altar room and walked down the hallway. On its walls hung pictures of her family, and Paige stopped in front of her favorite one, a triumphant group shot of her sisters and herself taken several weeks after the Ultimate Battle. She gazed at it. That had been a great day…

Her thoughts were cut off by a beeping sound from the bedroom. Her husband came charging out, dialing a number on his cell phone. "I have to go, Paige," Henry said as he ran past her. "A parolee of mine was spotted." He sighed as he hurried on. "Why do I always get the troublemakers?"

Paige didn't have the chance to say good-bye, as Henry had stampeded down the steps like a kid on Christmas morning. "You have a nice day too," she said wryly. She turned to the window behind her and grimaced at the rain streaming down the panes in heavy rivulets. _I'm definitely _not_ going out in that,_ she thought firmly.

As she made her way down the staircase, the phone in the living room began to ring. Paige hurried over to it, picked up the receiver before the voicemail cut in, and pressed the "talk" button. "Hello?"

"Hi, Paige," Phoebe's voice said on the other end of the line. "How are you?"

"Doing fine," answered Paige. "I'm fixing up the place."

"That's why I'm calling," Phoebe said, "I was wondering how the house turnout was going. Isn't this rain horrible?"

"Tell me about it. It's keeping me from going out to get extra stuff we need for around the house," Paige said. "What are you up to today?"

"Nothing much really, I'm at work right now. Coop and I are going out for dinner this evening and I thought you and Henry might like to join us in a double-date. Interested?"

"What about our other sister and _her_ husband?"

"Leo's playing with the kids and Piper's updating the Book of Shadows." Phoebe chuckled. "She's lucky she gets to keep that thing."

Paige's face brightened. "You just gave me an idea that could spice up this rainy day."

"I hope you're not thinking of stealing a certain book," Phoebe said jokingly.

"No, I'm thinking about starting my own certain book," said Paige, smiling into the receiver. "Piper should keep the one in the Manor, as it's been there the longest."

"You know, that doesn't sound half-bad," Phoebe agreed. "Piper threw together some notes for me when I moved out, but you should definitely prepare your own Book of Shadows. After all, your line will be special; they might become Witchlighters themselves."

Paige's dark eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Me, with children? Phoebe, I know I'm a great aunt, but I'm not sure about having kids myself."

But the question had goaded Paige's curiosity, and her train of thought moved on. _Would I really be a good mother? _she wondered.

_**Fall 2028 – Mitchell-Matthews home**_

Three pillars of blue-white orbs materialized into an attic altar room that had seen many changes over the past 25 years: things moved around, new magical equipment added to the arsenal left by the Witchlighter who had lived in the house. But the three people in their twenties who solidified into the room took it all in stride, as they had been the ones who had made the changes. The eldest, a clean-shaven young man sporting a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and blue jeans, made his way to the Book of Shadows as it sat open on its altar as if in anticipation of the trio's arrival. As he stopped in front of it and began flipping through its pages, he was joined by two young women, identical twins with pale skin, shoulder-length light-brown hair, and hazel eyes.

"Is there anything in there, Peter?" one twin asked after a few minutes.

Peter shook his dark head. "Nothing so far." His pale eyes went from one girl to the other. "So, what we should do about them?"

"They're just another clan of demons," the oldest twin Sarah answered. "I say we find their weakness as a group and attack it."

"But the problem is we don't know their weakness," Peter replied. "They must be new. Otherwise, Mom would have written something about them."

"Then we go to Aunt Piper's and check her Book of Shadows," Sarah said. "It might have the information we need." She heaved a sigh. "Having our own Book _is_ kick-ass, but it sucks when they don't always have the same info." She turned to her twin. "Take Peter with you."

"Why?" the younger girl asked in surprise.

"I have to make the potion." Sarah eyed her sister levelly. "And as much as I hate being the bitch who brings up past magical mistakes, our garden is dead and Serena now has _pink_ fur."

Peter hid an amused smile as Samantha's cheeks went their own shade of pink at the reminder. Their mother Paige Matthews had like her sister, broken up the Halliwell family tradition by giving her twin daughters names starting with "S", but at first she had been stumped as to what to name them. The girls were named after the adoptive mothers of both Paige and Henry. "Sarah" was the name of Paige's adoptive mother as "Samantha" was the name of Henry's. As another tradition, both Paige and Henry decided that all the girls would take on Paige's last name as the boys would take on his. But it was there the girls' twinness came to a sudden stop.

The eldest daughter by five minutes, Sarah Pandora Matthews was the strongest and most experienced of the trio, the best at potions and past magical knowledge. By contrast, Samantha Panthea Matthews was still learning the Craft and often felt intimidated by her sister. Samantha's self-esteem suffered each time a potion or spell failed; not long ago she had made a potion in an attempt to help the garden become healthier, but both potion and ritual had backfired, leaving Serena, the family white Persian cat, minus large patches of fur. Samantha had used another spell to get the indignant cat's fur to grow back, but she had meant for it to grow back white, not pink. On top of that, the sisters' magical relationship took a strange turn: Samantha was an accomplished Whitelighter but hardly the fighter her sister was, while Sarah wasn't exactly the best Whitelighter around.

Peter Keith Mitchell was the 180-degree opposite of his sisters. He was mortal, adopted by Paige and Henry before the twins had been born. Peter had been the biological son of one of Paige's charges, Keith, a future Whitelighter who had died suddenly, leaving the infant boy all alone. As they both knew what it felt like to be adopted, Paige and Henry had discussed the situation and had decided to take the child in. The fact that his name began with a "P" was only but a mere coincidence.

Peter now walked over to Samantha and rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Sam. Off to the Manor we go."

She nodded resignedly. "We'll be back soon, Sarah," she said and vanished with her older brother in a blue-white orb cloud.

Sarah made her way over to a table and began to gather together ingredients with which to make her vanquishing potion.

**(X)**

_**Mitchell-Matthews home -- Altar room -- Present Day**_

"I'm seriously thinking about it, Piper," Paige said into the phone as she busied herself with a conjuring potion. "Do you think it's wrong for me to create my own Book of Shadows?"

"Why should I?" replied the eldest Halliwell sister from her end of the line. "I luck out staying here in the Manor with the family Book, so having your own is a great idea. If you need any help, call me and we can plan it together. You'll definitely need it with your new destiny." Piper chuckled. "As much as I love you, I can't have you worrying me by orbing here every day. I might end up joining you in whatever demonic battle you're fighting."

Paige wiped the carrot seeds off her hands, smiling into the receiver. "Thanks, Piper, I'm glad I have your support. I have Phoebe's too, but she said I might need my own Book for my future children. Pretty ridiculous, huh?"

"It's not ridiculous at all, Paige, I think you'd make a great mother. I know you don't want that now, but you should prepare for it nonetheless. Imagine how far your Book can go; one day it might contain a prophecy about the coming of the Charmed Witchlighters."

Paige gave a snort of amusement. "I doubt there will ever be Charmed Witchlighters, but maybe a future Matthews line isn't so bad after all."

"It isn't, but I should warn you. You're now going through a lot of changes in your life. Just be careful that you don't lose yourself in the process."

"I won't. I've been searching for who I am and I guess being a Witchlighter is what I've been seeking. Knowing this instead of feeling split has definitely put me at ease. I suppose it's just the idea of being a mother that's making me nervous. I can't take on anymore responsibility than I already have: a new home, a husband, my Innocents, and my charges. Can I really handle being somebody's mom on top of all that?"

"Well, being a mother _is_ different from being a witch; children require more care and attention than Innocents," quipped Piper. "But when you feel ready, talk it over with that mortal husband of yours."

"Oh, Henry's definitely okay with being mortal," Paige joked. "After his little Harry Potter experience, he prefers calling for a taxi instead of being a cosmic one." She and Piper laughed at the comment.

Paige broke off as her potion suddenly exploded. "Can I call you back? My potion's done and I have to conjure my Book cover."

"Any ideas on what materials you're going to use?"

"I am a fan of green leather, but I want to be original. I don't know what I'll use as my symbol; I'll flip through my old Wiccan books and see what inspires me. I do have an idea in mind, but I have to see if I can find something that fits. I'll get back to you if I finish the cover by tonight."

"It's conjuring, so it shouldn't take long," said Piper, "but I understand. Good luck, Paige. Bye." She hung up.

Paige put the cordless down into its cradle on the table, beside the cauldron. On the other side of the cauldron sat three lit candles behind a piece of paper on which she had written a spell. "Okay," she said, eyeing the set-up, "let's see if this works."

She threw some fairy dust into the potion for an added power boost, lifted one of the candles, and poured its wax into the cauldron, watching as it bubbled in perfect unison with the potion. Picking up her spell, she sighed, brushed a strand of brown hair back behind an ear, and chanted:

_Bubbling potion in my presence,_

_Conjure what I wish with your essence,_

_I need a Book to call my own,_

_And a blue cover for this, my tome._

The potion bubbled more intensely and glowed. Paige extended her hands as swirling lights leaped gracefully out of the liquid. They descended onto her upturned palms in a shining mass, coalescing into a midnight blue leather-bound book containing no pages.

She examined the tome and rubbed its spine, smiling. "Well, not quite the blue I wanted, but it's beautiful just the same. Looks like I'm off to a nice start."

**(X)**

_**Mitchell-Matthews home -- Altar room -- Fall 2028**_

"It's a start, isn't it?" Sarah said after Peter had questioned the amount of potions she had made. "You didn't give me more than ten minutes, so I think my two will work just fine. We have more in stock if we need them."

"In that case, I'll bring my ax," Peter said. He placed his hands on his hips. "Or should I use my sword?" Realizing he didn't have any powers, he had trained himself to be a modern demon hunter who could withstand any demonic blows.

"Why don't you show off like you normally do and use them both?" Samantha quipped.

"What? Carry double weaponry for demons that spawn like so many photocopiers running amok?"

"Knock it off, will you?" said Sarah in annoyance. "The Halliwell Book said nothing other than they multiply. But we know they aren't Swarm demons because Mom's drawing showed that _those _guys had masks."

"Maybe there's a spell for taking out multiplying demons," Samantha said. "There might be something in _our_ Book on that. Should I check under 'Spells' or 'Demons'?"

Peter and Sarah knew Samantha's question was valid. In contrast to the Charmed Ones' Book, the Matthews Book of Shadows was color-coded: red tags for demons, blue tags for Beings of Light, gray tags for neutral entities, sage tags for the Magical Community, and violet tags for random spells and potions.

"I suggest both," answered Sarah. "Our Book has a ton of information and we don't want to accidentally skip over something. Besides, you might even find the demon. That book isn't exactly twenty pages. It's possible we missed it."

"I have a date tonight," Peter reminded his sisters. "I want these demons dead early so I have time afterward to shower and change."

The twins smirked at each other. "Heaven forbid Peter has to tell his date where the demon goo came from," whispered Sarah out of the side of her mouth.

Samantha tittered while she flipped through the pages of the Matthews Book. Suddenly, she stopped at one and slapped her hand down on it. "Found 'em!" she crowed. "Clone demons, spell, and potion!" The girl beamed, wondering if she had finally tapped into her witch side. Granted, it wasn't much to go on -- all she had done was flip through the Book -- but she had found what they had been looking for.

**(X)**

_**Mitchell-Matthews home – Present Day**_

Paige sat on her white living room couch with her new Book in her lap. A few minutes earlier she had enchanted the book, giving it seventy pages to begin with; whenever ten were used, more blank ones would appear magically. The pages weren't exactly pristine white as Paige had been tempted to enchant them so they would look old, only because it was a look she was familiar with. Her enchantment was a success as she had fairly aged pages.

The front door opened. The rain was heard outside, followed by the sound of the door closing and of shoes being kicked off against the wall. Billie Jenkins turned the corner and entered the living room, her clothes wet, her damp blonde hair plastered against her head. "Scavenger demon dead," she announced proudly.

"Good," said Paige, nodding with approval. She looked at her digital wristwatch. "You've been gone for several hours. Was it a hard vanquish?"

Billie grinned. "Nope, I sent his demon ass into oblivion. I telekinetically wrapped his own whip around his throat and choked him as I used my spell to finish him off." She sighed ruefully. "I had to walk back since I didn't have a teleportation potion. And of course I ran off without an umbrella, so I'll get out of these wet clothes."

As Billie turned to leave for her bedroom, she spotted the Book on Paige's lap and stopped. "What's that?" she asked, looking at it quizzically.

Paige smiled, holding up the Book with its midnight blue colored leather. "I was chatting with my sisters and we got to talking about me starting my own Book of Shadows." She put it back down onto her lap and ran her palms along its bare cover. "I still need a symbol and some page holders."

Billie approached Paige. "May I?" she asked, holding out her hands.

"Sure," answered Paige with a smile as she handed her the Book.

Billie looked the tome over admiringly. "Wow, this is awesome, Paige! I love the color of the leather binding; it's kick-ass!" She looked at the Witchlighter. "Will you let me use this sometime? That way, I won't have to keep bothering Piper."

"Of course; I won't deny you." Paige gestured at the girl with her head. "Meanwhile, you can help me after you get into something a little drier."

Billie looked down at her dripping outfit and the puddle she was making on the floor. "Oh, totally!" she laughed, giving Paige back the Book, and ran off to change.

On the coffee table in front of her, Paige had an ink bottle. She took a black-feathered quill and dipped it into the bottle, soaking its tip in black ink. She gently tapped the quill against the bottle to remove the excess. Then, slowly, carefully, she wrote across the first page her chosen title: _The Book of Shadows._

By the time Paige had finished, Billie returned, wearing a pink sleeveless top, matching silk pajamas, and slippers, a flower-patterned green towel wrapped around her head. She sat down next to Paige on the couch, folding her legs Amerindian style. "How's it coming?"

"I finished the title and now I'm decorating it," Paige slowly said, careful not to break her concentration as she drew curved lines under the title. She smiled. "I'm glad I now have something to do while it's raining. And I'm even happier that all my charges decided to stay indoors because of the weather."

Billie looked at the first page of the tome. "I'm surprised you've gotten this far," she commented. "It was pretty spontaneous."

Paige chuckled. "What can I say? Magic is grand." She took a deep breath, gently blew on the wet ink to make it dry faster, and placed the Book down on the coffee table. "Well, I suppose I can let it sit here," she commented.

"How will you protect it?" asked Billie.

"Good question. I haven't really thought about it," Paige replied. "I guess when I show the Book to my sisters, we can place a Power of Three spell on it. Maybe we can even use your projection power as an added boost."

"Good. I really want to use my powers now for good instead of evil."

"Billie, we don't blame you for what happened at the Ultimate Battle. That was months ago and we already forgave you. Now, let's get some hot chocolate."

"Shouldn't I make dinner?" Billie asked in surprise. "It's the least I can do to repay you for letting me stay here."

"I think calling on you to help me with supernatural forces is enough," Paige said. She smiled. "And besides, I'm going to have Henry buy some Chinese take-out. I'm in a mood for fried dumplings with a side order of sesame chicken."

"Great! Then I'll take you up on that hot chocolate," Billie said as she hopped off the couch. She extended her hands, took hold of Paige's, and pulled her up from the couch as the Book rested on the coffee table. They entered the kitchen to be greeted by its cream-colored walls and contrasting brown cabinets. Paige put a kettle of water on the stove to heat it, then made her way over to a cabinet, opened it, and pulled out a can of powdered hot chocolate. After closing the cabinet, she placed the can on top of the kitchen island and opened another cabinet, from which she removed two white mugs decorated with a red-yellow plaid design.

Billie pulled up a stool by the island. "So, Paige," she said as she sat down, "when was the last time you were called to Whitelighter duty?"

"I helped a grand total of two charges since my birthday," Paige answered as she took a carton of fresh milk from the refrigerator. She placed it on the island, alongside the mugs and the can of hot chocolate powder, and opened it. As she spooned the powder into the mugs, she continued her conversation. "One was a young witch named Lena, one of my favorite charges."

Billie's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh?" she said suspiciously. "One of your _favorite_ charges?"

Paige stopped her spooning to give the girl a reassuring smile. "Next to you, of course."

"That's better," Billie said with a grin. She rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them.

"I hope Henry gets home soon," Paige said as she returned to spooning the hot chocolate powder into the mugs. When the kettle whistled, she removed it from the stove and mixed hot water and milk with the powder. "But I know he has parolees to look after, so who am I to complain when he dashes off to see to them? I do the same thing with my charges and Innocents."

"Well, you're more likely to survive an athame or fireball than he is to survive a bullet," Billie said. She quickly regretted it when she saw the comment made Paige uneasy, and changed the subject. "How's your new power coming along?"

"I wouldn't say it's a new power; I see it as more of an advancement," Paige answered, grateful for the topic switch. "Orbing things without first commanding them is definitely going to help. But when I do that, my aim isn't as great as it is when I call for whatever I need at that moment." She stirred the contents of the mugs.

"Allow me," Billie suddenly offered. She focused on the mugs and took the Witchlighter by surprise when she telekinetically began stirring one spoon and then another.

Paige turned toward the girl. "Hey, young lady, personal gain," she said warningly.

Billie sighed, fighting the urge to roll her green eyes and disrupt her stirring. "I know, I know, I'm working on it. But I think I've earned a telekinetic spoon twirl today after my Scavenger demon vanquish. Don't _you_ ever find this anti-personal gain rule a bitch when you want to use it for minor personal pleasures?"

"If that was the case -- and I've been a witch for the past five years -- I would have earned a free month-long membership at a health spa." Paige grabbed the spoons, stopping them in mid-swirl. "But the anti-personal gain clause is there for a reason. We have to do the ordinary everyday things manually, not magically. It's not just for our protection; it's to keep us on the straight and narrow."

"You definitely know how to set an example," Billie quipped. "You're like the big sister I always wanted and never had to kill."

Paige couldn't resist smiling at the comment. "Well, then, you should call me 'the big sister you always wanted and failed to kill', because you _did_ fail. At least you're referring to me as a sister rather than a mother, like my real sisters have."

"Being a mother makes you nervous, Paige?" asked Billie in amusement. "Why? I'd think you'd want that eventually."

"I don't have time for it right now, and I know I'm not pregnant." Paige sat down next to Billie and sighed. "I guess what I'm really concerned about is whether I'll be able to raise any children right. Piper and Phoebe pointed out that any kids Henry and I have are bound to be magical, and when I thought about it, I realized it was true. So I also wonder if any future children I have will be able to harness the Witchlighter talents as I've done. And if they do, will they be able to keep it from interfering with their lives like it sometimes does with mine?"

_**(X)**_

_**The Underworld -- Fall 2028**_

"So, tell me again," Sarah said. "Why are we rushing this vanquish?"

"Maybe because I want to go out on my date tonight," Peter answered as the trio made their way through the Underworld, their eyes peeled for the demons they were hunting. Samantha had the spell in a pocket of her jeans, Sarah had secured inside a jacket pocket two vials of potion she had made, and Peter kept a tight grip on his sharpened ax. Cautiously, they walked through a dark, stony labyrinth, weaving around boulders, stalagmites, stalactites, and outcroppings. They knew that the demons had recently begun laying traps throughout their playground to catch enemies and intruders.

Suddenly, the three stopped in their tracks as clouds rose from the ground before them, solidifying into eight identical Clone demons. They looked exactly like the drawing in the Matthews Book of Shadows: Muscular beings in black trench coats, with tangled dishwater-blond hair and filth-smeared faces. Evil smiles revealing rotted brown teeth, they raised their hands to form lethal, neon-blue energy balls in their open palms.

"Careful, guys," warned Peter as he and his sisters braced themselves for battle.

"You're the mortal, _you_ be careful," Sarah shot back.

Uttering violent growls, the demons released their energy balls and attacked. As they closed in on the three Mitchells, Sarah extended her hands, creating a gale-force wind that blew the energy balls back at their creators. Four demons were vanquished, but four more suddenly appeared to take their place. All eight demons tried to rush the Mitchells, but staggered against the powerful gust.

"Sammy, get the spell!" shouted Sarah, holding the Clone demons back with her wind blast. "We're ending this now!"

Samantha pulled out the spell, but the wind snatched the paper out of her grasp. It soared over the demons to flutter to the ground behind them. "No!" she cried. "The spell!"

Brandishing his ax, Peter charged at the Clones like a madman and leaped in the air, spinning around in a 360-degree turn as he slashed with his weapon. The blade decapitated one of the Clones. The head and body exploded before they hit the ground, leaving only a curling wisp of smoke in their wake.

Samantha changed into an orb cloud and vanished past the demons, materializing behind them to search frantically for the spell. As she scanned the ground while fighting to stay upright in the wind, she screamed in pain as a Clone grabbed her hair and lifted her off the ground. She orbed herself out of his grip and rematerialized panting beside Sarah, safe but without the spell.

Relieved that her sister was safe, but seeing Peter was busy hacking away at the four other Clones, Sarah focused on the one that had attacked Samantha. As he came at them, joined by three others, she raised her hands once again, this time shooting lightning bolts that bore into the chests of two Clones, exploding them on impact.

_Who said it doesn't pay to have an enchantress as a forebear?_ Sarah thought with satisfaction. _Especially one who could command the elements, even though she was evil?_

Samantha's assailant and his colleague continued to close in on the two girls. "Okay", Sarah said grimly, "You two didn't get it the first time, so let's ramp it up a bit!_"_ She flashed out both hands; streams of fire roared from her palms and incinerated the two demons.

Still more demons appeared, however, each an exact copy of the other.

"There's no way we can figure out which is the real one!" Samantha cried. "We should say the spell!"

"What about the potion? We need it to _get _the real one," said Sarah.

Suddenly, a sharp blow hit her in the head. She fell unconscious to the ground and landed sprawling on her back

"Sarah!" cried Samantha. She quickly knelt beside her sister to heal her injury and saw what had felled her, a jagged rock. As she steadied her palms over the bleeding gash in Sarah's head, she heard the sound of footsteps. She looked up to see several Clones turning toward her, including the one who had thrown the rock.

"Peter!" Samantha shouted as one Clone rushed at her. "I need your help over here!"

"Can't!" he yelled back as he battled two Clone demons. "I'm kind of busy!"

Samantha knew she was the weakest fighter out of the trio and a lesser witch compared with her sister, but she couldn't worry about it now. Both she and Sarah needed protecting, and Samantha was determined to prove herself.

As the Clone charged at her, Samantha leaped to her feet, hitting him with an uppercut on his chin that snapped his head back. She kicked him in the stomach, rammed her shoulder into him, and knocked him to the ground. But she had no time to revel in her triumph, as she saw more Clone demons materializing.

_I have to identify the Head Clone,_ she thought desperately.She racked her brains furiously. "Spell...spell...I need a spell!"

As Samantha ducked, weaved around, and then kicked and punched more attacking Clones, Peter was preoccupied with the two he was fighting. After kneeing a Clone in the abdomen, he grabbed the demon's shoulders, and flipped him over. Peter picked his ax up from the ground and sliced the Clone's legs off, causing the body to explode. As he turned around to take on another attacking Clone, he saw Sarah lying motionless on the ground.

"Samantha!" he cried as he punched his adversary. "What's wrong with Sarah?"

"A Clone hit her with a rock!" shouted back Samantha, dodging an oncoming demon. She had to do something. Her sister needed healing and these Xeroxing entities had to be vanquished. She went through her options: Heal Sarah so she could create the spell that would take out the demons, not heal her unconscious sister and continue helping Peter, or heal Sarah and risk Peter being overrun and killed by the Clones.

As she finished her thoughts, she saw Peter now caught between two demons, dodging the punches they hurled at him. She gasped in horror as the Clones grabbed her brother's arms, slammed him viciously into the cavern wall, and struck him with two energy balls. He hit the ground, coughing up blood.

Samantha set her jaw. If ever there was a time to prove herself, it was _now_. Swiftly, she composed a spell, closed her eyes, and focused. She chanted:

_It's these demons that you own,_

_Spawned from your body, Master Clone._

_I ask this spell to please help me,_

_And give me a sign of your identity._

To her surprise, one demon gave off a radiant violet glow. She grinned with pride; she had unmasked the Head Clone. As his minions turned to look at him, Samantha took advantage of the opening and orbed to her sister's side. She immediately dropped to her knees, held her palms over Sarah's gash, and exuded the golden glow that closed the ugly wound, leaving no scar.

Sarah's eyes flew open and she sat straight up with a gasp. She stared at her sister. "What the hell happened?"

"One of those bastards nailed you with a rock," Samantha said, gesturing at the Clones with her head. "Talk about a punk move." She pointed at the glowing demon. "He's the Head Clone. I unmasked him with a spell."

Before Sarah could praise her sister, she saw a fireball whizzing at them. "Look out!" she yelled, grabbing Samantha's arm. They dissolved into an orb cloud and vanished, the fireball passing through the empty spot. The twins then rematerialized. "Great move, Sarah," said Samantha, grinning. "You'll be a kick-ass orbber yet."

She saw a groaning Peter on the ground. "I have a brother to heal. Get the potion. I'll find the spell." As she raced to him, she saw the piece of paper lying between two small boulders. "Found it!" she called and instantly orbed it into her sister's outstretched hand.

Now that she had the spell, Sarah reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and removed a potion vial. She then saw the glow surrounding the Head Clone beginning to fade. _You don't get away that easily_, she said to herself. She thrust an arm forward, releasing a jet of water that drenched the demon to his skin, allowing her to identify him if the glow completely died.

The Head Clone's minions whirled and charged at her. Coolly, Sarah shot out of the same hand a wind blast that sent them flying off their feet and back toward their leader. They rolled past him as he trembled violently in the wind, chilled by his dampened state.

It was the distraction she needed. She hurled the potion at the Head Clone's chest with all her strength. The vial broke on impact, splashing the demon with a fluid that changed into a powerful cloud of smoke that trapped him like a cage. As the Head Clone struggled to free himself, Sarah held up the spell before her as she removed another vial from her jacket pocket with her other hand. She chanted:

_Multiplier of form and shape,_

_Head demon and clones I do erase,_

_Demonic mirror, be no more,_

_In the fires of Hell, burn for sure!_

The Head Clone was immediately engulfed in green-colored flame. He screamed in agony as his skin boiled, and he exploded in a fiery blast that took his clones with him.

Sarah ran over to Samantha, who was kneeling beside a motionless Peter, her glowing hands held over him. She saw tears running down her sister's face. "What is it, Sam?" she asked worriedly.

"He's dying," whispered a frightened Samantha as the glowed faded from her palms. "His wounds aren't healing."

Icy fear coursed through Sarah's body. "No, he's _not _going to die," she said determinedly as she knelt down beside her twin. "Let me help. Maybe we can save him if we work together. Give me your hand."

Sniffing back her tears, Samantha extended a hand to her sister, who gently took it in hers. The two young women held their free hands over Peter, Sarah moving her hand up and down her brother's inert body, trying to force healing light out of her palm. But no glow emanated from either her hand or her sister's.

"Nothing's happening!" she said, fighting the panic rising within her. "Why isn't anything happening?"

"Probably because you're trying too hard," said Samantha. "You can't force a healing. It has to come naturally from the heart."

"Then what do I do?" Sarah demanded, feeling her eyes brim.

"Think of how much you care for him," Samantha suggested. "How much _we_ love him."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Sarah held onto her sister's hand and concentrated as they continued holding their palms over the dying Peter. _We love you, _she thought, fighting back her own tears,_ and we know how fiercely you love us. We never cared that you were adopted; we love you as though you were our natural brother. Yes, we get on each other's nerves, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter because the issues always get resolved. You never hold grudges and that's one of the traits I love about you…_

She stopped when she heard her twin softly gasp, "Sarah, _look! _"

Sarah opened her eyes and gaped at the sight of her and Samantha's free hand glowing. "It's working!" exulted Sarah. "Come on, let's heal Peter!"

The twins moved their hands over their brother's body, bathing his wounds in radiant golden light. To their joy, they saw the injuries heal almost instantly and Peter's eyes flutter open. He at looked up at his sisters, who hugged him with all their strength.

"Don't squeeze me to death now," he joked. He sighed and relaxed. "Wow, that felt so serene. What was it?"

"Your two sisters healing you," Samantha said. She gazed proudly at her older sibling. "Sarah couldn't have come into her Whitelighter power at a better time."

"And you couldn't have tapped into your witch side at a better time, Samantha," replied Sarah.

Peter sat up and looked around to see an empty cavern. "So it's all over?" he asked. "I guess I missed the battle, then."

"Hey, you did as much as can be expected," said Samantha. She grinned and patted Peter on the shoulder. "And besides, how many mortals can survive two energy balls? You're one tough dude."

"I know, but my date can be tough as well, so I'd like to see her." He grinned at his sisters. "Mind orbing a mere mortal?"

Samantha smiled at her twin. "Care to try?"

"We'll do it together," answered Sarah, returning the smile.

The girls each placed a hand on their brother's shoulder. The trio dematerialized in a dazzling cloud of spiraling blue-white orbs.

**(X)**

The altar room of the Mitchell-Matthews house became awash in light as the three young people rematerialized. They walked over to the open Book of Shadows and saw the tome still open on the Clone demon entry. Sarah, standing between her brother and sister, closed the Book. With a smile, she placed her hand on its midnight blue cover, as did Samantha and Peter.

"We may not be the Power of Three, but we're one hell of a unit," commented Sarah.

"It doesn't matter that we're not blood relatives," Peter mentioned. "Our bond is strong."

"And always will be," added Samantha. "I just hope we make Dad proud with how we're doing."

"I'm sure he's watching over us…each and ever day," Sarah said.

**(X)**

_**Matthews-Mitchell home – Altar Room -- Present Day**_

Paige saw it was several hours before midnight while she put her final touches on her Book of Shadows. She had already added a black, gold and white ribbon as a place holder as well as more color to the front page with her art supplies. She was now preparing to add her chosen symbol while waiting for her sisters to arrive to help her cast a protection spell on the tome.

Henry had returned home an hour earlier with the Chinese take-out, but had gone straight to bed after a tough day working on his parolee's case. Billie, more tired than she had thought after her Scavenger demon vanquish, had also gone to bed. This left Paige alone to concentrate on her work and her dinner of fried dumplings and sesame chicken.

Suddenly, a swirl of lights appeared above her and spiraled down to the floor. Paige smiled as she watched the swirl materialize into her older sisters. Piper released Phoebe's hand as Phoebe set her laptop bag down and straightened up to grin at her sister.

"See?" she boasted. "I told you my spell would work." She extended her hand. "Now, pay up."

"Pay up?" asked Paige in amusement, eyeing them both.

"I made a bet with Phoebe that her sister-to-sister spell wouldn't work," Piper admitted sheepishly. "Now I'm out five bucks." She looked at Phoebe with a firm gaze. "Put the hand down. I'll pay when I get home. Hope you don't mind getting it via spell-mail."

Phoebe grinned and lowered her hand. "I don't. Can't wait."

"And how are my older sibs doing?" Paige chuckled, cutting off the sisterly chit-chat.

"Great," Phoebe said. She spotted Paige holding her tome, and walked over to it. "Is this your book?"

Paige showed them the midnight blue-colored leather binding. "Yes it is," she said proudly.

Piper also came up for a look. "Wow, that's eye-catching. Have you picked a symbol for it?"

"I sure did." Paige presented what looked like a gold Roman numeral two, painted against a midnight-blue background. "I took it from my astrology book."

"I know this," Phoebe said as she and Piper looked at the symbol. "It's the glyph for Gemini."

"The sign of the Twins," commented Piper. She looked at Paige. "Nice choice."

Her sister nodded. "It represents duality, but it also symbolizes two united as one. And since I'm half witch and half Whitelighter, it makes a lot of sense to me. And, like you guys said, if I do have kids, it will represent who we are. So, what do you think?"

"It's a good choice," Piper said approvingly.

"It is," concurred Phoebe with a smile. "I have to admit, if it were me I would have considered the yin-yang symbol. That also represents two halves forming a whole."

"I did think about it," Paige admitted, "but the Gemini glyph seemed a little more original." She closed the book and placed it on the table. "It's time to add the glyph."

"What do you have planned?"

"By sealing the deal; we cast a spell to protect it." The youngest Charmed One answered.

"Speaking of which," Piper interrupted, reaching into her pocket to produce a piece of paper, "Phoebe and I were talking and we realized your new Book would need some form of protection, so she created her own spell."

Paige's face lit up. These women truly were her sisters. "Let's have it!" the youngest Charmed One said excitedly.

"Will the glyph appear after we say the spell?" asked Phoebe.

"It should. I already enchanted the book, so once it's protected, the glyph will stamp itself on," Paige answered. She grinned. "So, let's have the Power of Three spell."

"The spell won't need the Power of Three," Piper said. "You just hold on to your book and we'll hold on to ours."

"_Yours?" _said Paige in amazement. "You mean you brought the Halliwell Book here?"

Phoebe snapped her fingers. "Oh, right," she said in mock absent-mindedness, "thanks for reminding me." She went to her laptop bag, opened it, and pulled out the Halliwell Book of Shadows, covered in its familiar green leather, the triquetra sitting goldenly in the center of the front cover.

"Why do we need it?" Paige asked. "Aren't we just blessing mine?"

"We are," answered Piper, "but we're also transferring some information from it into yours." She grinned at Paige. "This is turning into one hell of a day of personal gain for you, missy, but let's hope we can get away with it. After all, we _are_ doing this for the greater good."

Paige shook her head with a chuckle. "I did tell Billie that the rule was there for a reason, but no way am I denying myself this."

Phoebe placed the Halliwell Book on the table, next to Paige's, moved into position with Piper, and took her hand. Together they chanted:

_We use our powers to give to thee,_

_The youngest sister in the Power of Three,_

_We use our Book to weave this spell,_

_Giving to thee, pages by Halliwell,_

_We pass to you within this hour,_

_The written works of Warren power_

The triquetra became blindingly bright. A glorious jet of gold light flew out of the symbol and into Paige's book, engulfing it in brilliance. The tome grew in size, magically adding more and more pages. The glow died away, revealing a gold-colored Gemini glyph on the midnight blue cover of the Matthews Book of Shadows that was now as large and as thick as the Halliwell Book.

Paige gave a smile that seemed brighter than the magic she had just seen. "Being a Witchlighter _definitely_ has its perks," she said as she took in her new tome.

**--End of Chapter –**

**Readers (including CNetters) Please Review and tell me what you liked, disliked, favorite moments, whatever to your hearts content. Thanks for reading.**

**Important Note: The color of the Book of Shadows was changed from cobalt to midnight blue because I just needed something darker and wanted to put my original idea that I had changed for other reasons. The glyph was also changed from gray to gold to give it that shining star in the night feeling.**

**Thanks again to my editor, Patricia and thank you, Melissa (From CNet) for help with the Head Clone Vanquish Spell.**


	7. The Half Blood Witch

**Chapter 7- The Half-Blood Witch**

**Teaserline:** Can opposites attract?

_**September 6, 2006**_

Though he hadn't called for her, Paige orbed into the apartment of her latest charge. Whitelighters always knew when their charges were in trouble, and Paige was no different; she had distinctly felt Alex was in danger and knew not to ignore it. She also knew she was supposed to be meeting with the Elders, but both she and they knew the rule that an endangered charge took precedence over a summoning.

She scanned Alex's living room and didn't see him. All she noticed was how dingy the apartment was, but she understood why. She walked through the hall and saw a puddle of water on the floor. "Not good," she murmured.

The first known witch in his family, Alex Prince could astral project as well as conjure and manipulate water. When he first came into his astral projection talent, it was a complete shock. The power not only took him by surprise, his mother and father soon learned of it, as it caused Alex to astral project unexpectedly. Scared witless by a son who could leave his body, Alex's parents threw him out of the house, forcing him to move into an apartment. His plight had caught the Elders' attention and they had assigned Paige to him as his Whitelighter.

Under Paige's guidance, Alex had learned how to control his talent so he could keep his job and his residence. In truth, they had worked on astral projection together; Paige and her sisters only learned the skill because Leo had introduced them to it based on his knowledge of Prue's way to tap into her power, all to help the Charmed Ones defeat the demon Zankou over a year ago. After that battle, Paige had realized that she wanted to learn how to advance her astral projection, but she hadn't found the time to do so until she had been assigned to Alex.

The Witchlighter followed the trail of water to find her charge, clad in a faded black shirt and torn blue jeans, cornered in the room by a demon. Alex's assailant sported a green Mohawk and a gray shirt with the sleeves ripped off. He was smeared from head to foot with dirt and dry paint, and Paige surmised that Mr. Mohawk was currently living above ground, probably with a gang of killer mortals or with others of his kind.

The demon slashed at Alex with a particularly nasty-looking athamae and sliced the young man's body… which instantly vanished in a crimson glow.

The demon was confused. "What happened?" he snarled, looking about. "Where did you go, witch?"

A concerned Paige knew exactly what happened, as Alex rematerialized beside her in the same crimson glow. "Why are you astralling around?" she asked. "Where's your physical body?"

Alex nodded his blond head at his attacker. "I vanquished that guy's partner, but the blast knocked me out. I'm still unconscious." He eyed the demon tensely. "I was able to trick him into thinking my astral self is the physical one, until now. You have to heal me so I can defeat him. I don't have my powers in this mode."

"So you were knocked out," Paige realized. "Must've been why I knew you were in trouble."

An ugly growl reached their ears, and Paige and Alex saw that the demon had spotted them. "Where's your body, Alex?" she hissed as the demon began stalking toward them.

"It's in my bedroom."

Paige gave a curt nod. "Let's go!"

Alex bolted from the living room, with Paige right behind him. As she dashed through the door, a fireball crashed into the wall directly across from the living room entrance, missing her head by mere inches. Alex and Paige raced into his bedroom, locking the door behind them. The room was an even bigger mess than the rest of the apartment. The pointed tips of springs poked through the top of the mattress, paper plates containing stale food were scattered around the room… and the motionless body of Alex lay on the floor.

The young witch's astral self pointed at it. "There! Hurry!"

Paige quickly knelt beside the inert form and held her hands over it, her palms emitting their familiar golden glow as the healing light bathed Alex's physical self and roused him back to consciousness. He gasped and his body jerked as his astral self reentered it. His eyes then flashed open and he leaped to his feet.

"Thanks," he sighed with relief.

"How did you kill that demon's buddy?" asked Paige.

"I slipped behind him and got him with a butcher knife. I was lucky I had one lying around."

She gazed at the mess. "I think you can credit that to not being Mr. Clean," she remarked wryly.

Suddenly, Alex's assailant came crashing through the bedroom door and into the room, brandishing his athamae. "I'll handle this," Paige said tersely.

Mr. Mohawk hurled the blade at her. With a swift wave of her hand, she orbed it back at him, but he dodged it by dropping to the floor. The athamae bounced harmlessly off the wall behind him and landed beside his feet. He snatched it up, but thought better of using it and launched a fireball at Paige.

Alex shot out his hand, releasing a ball of concentrated water that doused the fireball on impact.

The Witchlighter grinned. "Nice one," she said approvingly. She spotted a rusty kitchen knife on a nearby bureau. "Do you want me to take care of him or do you think you can handle it?"

As if in answer to her question, Alex flashed out both hands and shot water jets out of his palms like a fire hose, pinning his attacker against the wall. Mr. Mohawk gasped and struggled against the water. Paige noticed the large puddle forming under his feet and got an idea.

She looked around quickly and spotted an old television with loose wires protruding out of the opening where the on/off button would have been. "Stop," she said. "We're ending this now." Alex obeyed.

Paige orbed the wires out of the set and into the puddle at the demon's feet. As the wiring touched the water, the television exploded and electric sparks blasted through the screen and into the puddle. The demon screamed in agony as sparks enveloped his body, turning it into a fireball. He exploded on the spot.

"Well, I'd say that demon is well done," Paige said. She looked at Alex apologetically. "Sorry about your television set, though."

Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That was one of the best things going for me… Until my cable service got cut a couple days ago."

"You can't keep living like this; this place is a pig-sty, to say the least. And you really need to get a better job. You had a great education, so I don't know why you haven't yet gotten any internships," Paige commented.

"Nobody wants to hire a dirt-poor student, Paige." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Reality really sucks."

Paige thought for a moment and brightened. "Let me call my old workplace. I'll see if I can hook you up with something; Social Services occasionally need people to run errands." She gave a little snort of laughter. "Hell, I should know, being the boss's former assistant. But if that doesn't work out, I'll ask my husband if there are any internships at the probation department." She smiled at Alex. "I'll be in touch."

"I hope that means you'll orb over with any updates," Alex said. He blushed. "My phone got disconnected."

Paige almost wanted to laugh at how embarrassed he was, but she refrained from doing so. Alex was a sensitive young man.

"I'll do my best," she said and vanished in a flurry of blue-white lights.

**(X)**

Paige would have liked to have avoided all the cool glances the Whitelighters gave her whenever she orbed into the Heavens, looks that, after all this time, still said she didn't belong there. But she chose to ignore them and walked on through the misty hallway, enjoying the cool swirl of it around her feet as she went up to the large stone doors to the Elders' Council Room. As she was about to knock by pulling on the stone handle, a Whitelighter suddenly stepped in front of her.

"They're not to be disturbed," he snapped. "You should leave."

"Gee, and here I thought Whitelighters were noble and generous," Paige retorted, "instead of jerks with sticks up their robes. But then you do tend to have cranky bosses, don't you?" She tossed her dark hair back, tilting her chin. "Bosses who, by the way, asked to see me."

The Whitelighter snorted. "Huh, what's so important that they need to see you? I've been a Whitelighter long before you were born; I've helped scores of charges."

"Lucky them," Paige shot back. She banged the handle twice against the door. "I like to think the Elders actually give me missions to help me with my destiny. Maybe they feel I can reach out to this person."

"You've been getting all the special charges lately," the Whitelighter grumbled. "It's not fair." He looked at the stone door. "I pride myself in helping my charges, but I want to be known as something more than just an ordinary Whitelighter. I'd like to guide someone of greater importance for a change!"

Paige stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean, 'greater importance'? All of our charges are important, and yet you want to guide somebody 'special'!" She shook her head disgustedly. "I can't believe this. I've actually met a Whitelighter who discriminates against certain charges. I hope there aren't any others up here like you!"

The large stone doors swung inward. The female Elder Sandra, self-composed and clad in her usual white robe with a brilliant gold one underneath, emerged. "Hello, Paige. How are you?" she said with a smile as the doors closed behind her.

Sandra turned to the Whitelighter who had been so rude to Paige. "Please leave us. We have matters to discuss."

The Whitelighter bowed, shot Paige a sullen look, and walked away. Sandra watched his retreat before turning to Paige with an arched eyebrow.

Paige decided not to bring up the subject of Mr. Rudeness in White. "I'm okay," she said, smiling at Sandra. "So, what do you need?"

"We have a new charge for you--" Sandra began.

"Naturally," Paige quipped. She then reprimanded herself; Sandra was one of the few Elders she liked and respected. "Just joking. What's the story behind this charge?"

"We're concerned that she may turn to Evil. If she does, she'll be a deadly weapon that can be used against Good. We believe there's still hope for her, if only because of the witch blood in her. If her other side becomes dominant, she may have little use for her witch side."

"What's this bad side that's threatening to take her over? Is she half-demon or something?"

"Yes, she is. Her witch mother, Carmen, was…" Sandra paused, searching to find the right words, "sexually attacked by a demon and became pregnant. Following Rose's birth, her mother cherished her nonetheless, but the child's power was activated at the wrong moment and it killed Carmen. Rose had to be placed into a foster home."

"I see," Paige said soberly. "This girl and I have much in common; we're both hybrids who had to be put into foster homes." She sighed. "I'll do my best, but how will she react to meeting another witch? Has she had any experience with demons? Can you tell me?"

"Paige, you know it's best to get such information from your charges personally. Having us give you all the answers ahead of time isn't going to help you form the proper connection with them." Sandra opened her hand and showed Paige a simple silver ring. "This was Carmen's. Her Whitelighter brought it to us after she died."

Paige eyed the ring curiously. "Why would Whitelighters bring you their dead charges' personal belongings?"

"We store them here in the Heavens. If the deceased charge has any surviving family members, personal items such as this ring can be used as tools to search for them." The Elder handed Paige the ring. "And you're a witch; you can use this to scry for Rose's location."

"But what if her mother had wanted her to have it?" asked Paige, looking uneasily at the ring in her hand. "It is a family heirloom, after all."

"Carmen's Whitelighter retrieved it after Rose was put in foster care," Sandra said. "Whitelighters never purposely take dead charges' valuables. We only use them as resource." She smiled. "I must go now, so I suggest you get started. Be well, Paige."

Sandra didn't wait for the doors to open; she changed into a glowing vortex and orbed back inside the Council Room.

Paige looked about the misty hallway. She didn't see the sullen Whitelighter who had been so envious of her. Smirking, she flipped the silver ring into the air and deftly caught it in her hand. _Guess what, Mr. Rude?_ she thought triumphantly. _I have a new charge to look after!_

She vanished in a column of orbs, still wearing a smirk.

**(X)**

Paige materialized into her altar room and went immediately over to a table where she kept her map of San Francisco as well as her amethyst. She opened the map, spread it out, and then sat down. Holding the ring in one hand, she picked up the amethyst and held it over the map. The violet crystal, dangling from the end of its silver chain, circled over the map with a soft _whoosh_ and continued doing so after several minutes, making Paige wonder if this was all she was going to get.

As Paige concentrated on the map and the crystal, Billie entered the room, holding her laptop against her hip. A white band pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail as a green half-shirt revealed her lean, flat stomach; blue jeans hugged her waist. She grinned when she caught sight of Paige.

"There you are," Billie said as she rubbed one black leather boot off the other. "What are you scrying for?"

Paige sighed in frustration, her back to Billie. "It's not a what, it's a who."

"Okay," Billie said, "_who_ are you scrying for?"

"My new charge, a girl named Rose. And I can't seem to find her."

Billie placed her now-opened laptop onto the table. "You know, I'm sure you'd be able to loosen up with the scrying if you had a larger map. Just use my laptop with the amethyst. My system is effective and all the cool kids are using it."

The young witch's grin quickly faded as Paige's unamused look said the joke had landed on the floor with a leaden thump.

"There's nothing wrong with my method. Centuries of witches support what I have to say on the matter," the Witchlighter replied. She stood up after a minute and sighed again. "Damn, I still can't find her." She ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe I do need a bigger map. Sandra didn't actually say Rose lived in San Francisco."

"Can I help?" Billie asked.

Paige gave her the silver ring. "Use this with your laptop, I guess, and the amethyst to scry for her. I have to speak with Henry." Billie nodded and sat down at the table. She switched on her laptop and reached for the amethyst.

Paige left and headed for the bedroom. She entered to find Henry lounging on the brown comforter on the bed. Clad in a white t-shirt and black boxers, he was typing rapidly on his own laptop, unaware of his wife's presence.

"Henry," Paige said.

"Yes?" he replied amicably, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I need a favor. Can you see if there's an internship open at your workplace?"

Henry turned and looked at her. "Why?"

"One of my charges has a job that barely pays him enough to make ends meet. His apartment is in such a horrible state that I almost brought him home with me."

"Is this the guy that shoots water out of his hands?"

Paige nodded.

Henry closed his laptop, his dark eyes meeting her honey-brown ones. "Honey, your charges aren't abandoned puppies or kittens; they tend to have roofs over their heads. And this one does, too."

"I know," Paige sighed, "but he could use a better roof… And some cable TV."

Henry chuckled, but Paige shot him a disapproving look. "It's not funny, Henry! Alex was a great student in school, and he's also a great person." Her face softened and she sat down next to her spouse. "Can we possibly work on this together? I can see to it that he makes the right decisions while you put in a good word for him. I'll also try to find something for him at Social Services, but I think he may be better suited to dealing with criminals, especially since there are a lot of demons who call San Francisco home. Are you in?"

"How can I argue with that?" he replied after a moment's thought. "As long as Alex knows he can't go around giving public waterworks displays, I'll ask my boss if he knows what programs we have at the moment." He paused and grinned. "But if word gets back that your charge is being a human garden hose, I might lose my job."

Paige leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you so much," she said happily. "I'll orb over to his apartment a little later with the good news." She stood up. "Meanwhile, I have to go see to a brand new charge. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah, sure, why do you ask?"

"I might have to take Billie with me on this one. One of the Elders said this newest charge might be trouble… She's half demon."

"I see," Henry said as he placed the laptop onto the bed and stood up. "Are you also taking a vanquishing spell or something to protect you?"

"Henry, I can't vanquish a charge, no matter who they are," replied Paige. "I'll need a cover, and I can do that by posing as a social worker. Billie can be my assistant."

"Isn't that a bit underhanded? Why not just tell her the truth if you already know she's magical?" the mortal suggested.

"You can't always be blunt with a charge, especially one who's half-witch and half-demon and was raised in a foster home, like I was. I have to gain Rose's trust in a way that won't make her think I want to help only because she has powers, and for that I need a cover." She looked over her shoulder in the direction of the altar room. "I let Billie scry for Rose, so I should see if she's found anything." She wrapped her arms around Henry's waist and rested her head against his chest. "I love you."

Henry grinned and embraced her. "Be safe, Paige. Call me on my cell if you need any help. And remember: Don't think I can't help because I don't have powers. You got that?"

"I got it," she replied, smiling. They gave each other a simple kiss on the lips.

Paige returned to the altar room, where she saw Billie in front of an open cupboard, putting potions inside a one-strapped black pouch.

"Billie, we're just going to meet Rose, not vanquish her," Paige said, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm going to Magic School," said the blonde witch as she stuffed another potion into the pouch. "Somebody has to save it before the demons claim it for good. I know I can't do it alone, but at least I can make a sizable dent in their plans."

"Then wait for me and my sisters," Paige said, though she knew what Billie's answer would be.

"No. You guys keep putting it off," Billie replied without turning around. "The school can't be saved that way, only by action. That place is a second home to me and I want to save it. Besides, the Magical Community still thinks I'm a traitor; I want to prove to them that I truly am good."

"I wish you'd wait until we're ready," Paige sighed as Billie tossed yet another potion into her pouch, "but do what you feel you have to do. Did you find Rose by any chance?"

"Yeah, I got your girl," Billie answered, closing the cupboard door. She turned to face Paige. "She's in New York. Can you orb to the other side of the country?"

Paige couldn't resist smiling. "Yes I can, and I certainly wouldn't mind." She thought for a moment. "Hmm, New York…You think I'll need a jacket? It tends to get cool there at this time of year."

"Beats me," Billie said, shrugging. She grabbed a teleportation potion and was about to throw it onto the floor when she stopped and slapped her forehead. "Damn, I almost forgot my athamaes." She left the altar room and strode down the hall to her bedroom. Paige went with her and they entered.

"Please be extra careful," she said with unmasked concern for her protégé. "I'm going to be busy with Rose in New York, so if you call out for me, it might be delayed or so."

"I'll keep that in mind," Billie said as she opened a drawer and removed three double-edged steel blades with black handles. She tucked one in the back of her jeans, another over her shirt, and gently slid the third blade down her left boot. She then stood upright, the potions pouch slung over her right shoulder and the teleportation potion in her hand. She gave Paige a smile. "Wish me luck."

Paige returned the smile and nodded. "I do."

Billie dropped the vial onto the floor between her feet. It shattered, releasing its contents. A gray cloud of smoke engulfed the young witch and dispersed seconds later, leaving an empty spot save for tiny shards of glass.

Paige went to the table and picked up the ring that lay beside the open laptop. She closed her fist around it and studied the location revealed on the screen.

**(X)**

Usually, the Great Hall of Magic School would have been a hub of activity, with students and teachers either rushing to class or standing in pairs or groups talking. But these days the Hall was witness to dark assemblies like the one now occupying it: A group of a dozen black-garbed demons led by one who was half Darklighter. He stood with the others, watching his gray-robed telepathic stand perfectly still, his eyes closed in concentration, his arms raised with his sleeves swaying in the icy wind that moaned through the empty halls of the School. In contrast, the demonic half-breed wore his usual black waistcoat and black boots. The only change in his appearance was that he was now clean-shaven, which made the black tribal markings on the left side of his face stand out more boldly.

Even though his eyes were shut, the telepath felt the stare of the entire group, and especially that of the leader, weigh heavily upon him. Another silent moment passed, and then he stood straighter. "I see her, Avo."

"Good work, Vilo," the half-breed said, grinning. "What is the witch's location?"

"New York City," answered Vilo. He lowered his arms to his side, opened his eyes, and looked at his leader. "Why is she so important? She's just another of the Witchlighter's charges."

Avo gave a dark chuckle. "Oh, she's much more than that, my friend. She's what we need to gain the upper hand."

"How is that?" asked Vilo, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"That tale is for another time. Right now, just know she's someone vital to me. Her powers have lain dormant for many years, but we can activate them and use them to unlock her potential."

"You mean, use them against the Witchlighter," Vilo hazarded, and Avo nodded. "Why are we building a team to fight her, anyway?"

"There's a war coming; Light and Dark will battle for the very ground we stand on. This place will be my palace when I'm the new Source of All Evil. I'll bring it down to the Underworld, where its knowledge and power will be used to destroy Good."

One demon stepped forward and sneered, "The same old boast; 'I'm going to take over the Underworld and become the new Source.' You'll fail like all the others, because no one can kill a Charmed One! What makes you think you can kill one who's half Whitelighter?"

Avo stared icily at his mocker. "A Charmed One was killed: Prue, the eldest, by Shax and Magic School isn't my goal; it's merely a perk. It's the Witchlighter's death I want, but not by being foolish enough to think I can kill her with an arrow. The Magic School war will spill her blood and that of others." Avo suddenly raised his hand, conjuring a thermal fireball, his face twisting into a sneer of its own. "Pity you won't be alive to glory in it." He hurled the violet fireball into the demon, who screamed as the violet flames consumed him and vanquished him a moment later.

Silence fell over the room, broken only by the moaning wind and the occasional distant bang of a door against a wall. Avo turned to the nine remaining minions. "Does anyone else have an opinion?" he asked them ominously.

The minions vigorously shook their heads, not daring to further provoke the half-breed. Avo smiled in satisfaction. "Good. See that you don't." He turned to his colleague and nodded contemptuously at the minions. "I must go now, Vilo, so I'll leave you in charge of this rabble. Use the resources here to learn about Valen."

A vortex of black orbs materialized around the half-breed, and he vanished.

Vilo turned to the minions. "I'll be in the main library," he said to them, "so don't leave the school. I'll return shortly." The telepath shimmered away.

The minions looked at one another. "This is just great," one of them snorted. "What do we do while he's off doing research?"

"Well, you can have some extra tutoring, but something tells me you guys aren't here for that."

The demons whirled around at the voice that had suddenly announced its presence. Billie stood in the Great Hall's doorway, her hands on her hips, smiling confidently. Angered by her mocking tone, one of the demons raised his hand, conjuring a crackling energy ball. "Kill her!" he snarled. "She's a witch!"

"Leave while you can, girl," barked another demon as he and his brethren also conjured energy balls. "You're outnumbered."

"I'm shaking in my boots," Billie taunted, "so I think I'll take them off." She bent over as if to remove her footwear, yanked out the athamae, and hurled it at the closest demon in one swift blur of motion. The blade plunged point-first into the minion's chest, vanquishing both him and his energy ball on impact.

"Bring it on, boys," Billie challenged the remaining eight. "Now you have something to do."

**(X)**

Paige had arrived in the Big Apple moments earlier. Paige stood outside the front of a school Rose attended. She was amazed by the vast numbers of people crowding the streets; some walked while others stood under address signs on street corners, flailing their arms to flag down taxis. Her amazement changed to delight as she caught sight of a Macy's department store several blocks away.

"Wow," she said to herself, "Gotta come back here to shop." She then sighed, remembering why she was in New York City to begin with. But duty before pleasure.

She spun on her heel and faced the school. She read its name and her jaw dropped. "New York University,"she read with a jolt. "Looks like I'm working with one smart girl."

Paige now knew her social worker disguise would fail and that she had to change into a student if she was to get anywhere with Rose. Trouble was, a glamour couldn't always be sustained for long periods of time, and she didn't know how long she'd be undercover. She decided a spell was a safer bet. All she needed was privacy in which to perform it.

Tightening her white jacket around her, Paige loosened her ponytail, allowing her long hair to fall against her neck to keep it warm. She then entered the school, passing students as she did. She walked down the hallway, taking note of plaques and class portraits lining the walls. Paige pulled out the ring, hoping it would help her sense Rose.

She continued on, admiring the plaques, when she felt a sudden pull and stopped. _Rose. She's nearby,_ Paige thought. She saw her reflection in one of the plaques and knew she had been so busy reading them that she had forgotten to glamour.

"Damn," she cursed to herself and looked around. "Ladies room, ladies room.." To her relief, she spotted one a few steps away and went quickly to it. As she entered, a dark-eyed young woman with olive skin and flowing black hair walked past her… And Paige halted dead in her tracks as she felt a powerful connection being forged between her and the girl who had just left. She whirled around, staring at the restroom door.

"Rose..." she realized.

Making sure she was alone in the restroom, Paige ran to a nearby stall, checked to see if it was empty, and went inside. She placed the ring back into her pocket and pulled out a paper. She unfolded it and spoke as quietly as possible in case someone came in:

_Passing time, passing age,_

_Powers above, give me aid._

_Turn youth's clock back unto me._

_Give me a schoolgirl's identity._

Swirls of glistening orbs enveloped her. She felt her height go down about an inch and her cheekbones become slightly bigger. After a few more moments, when she felt the spell had done its work, she stepped out of the stall and looked into the restroom mirror.

"Oh my God!" she gasped as she felt her new cheekbones. The spell had made her eight years younger. Her dark brown hair had changed to a reddish-gold color; her honey-brown eyes were now light gray. But Paige was none too crazy about her attire: She now sported an orange tee-shirt with a red-lips design across the front, and her black casual pants had become a pair of hip-hugging, low-rider jeans. The only piece of clothing unaffected by her spell was her white jacket.

"Well, either magic is a man..." she muttered wryly, turning around to check out her _behind_, "or girls these days are a little too comfortable with their bodies_"_

Seeing her jacket didn't go with the rest of her outfit, Paige took it off, folded it, and placed it over her right arm. With her free hand, she slipped the spell into the back pocket of her jeans and exited the restroom.

The moment she was in the hallway, Paige realized she no longer needed the ring; her bond with Rose was now strong enough for her to sense the girl. She made her way down the hall, weaving in and out between clusters of students. She noted some busy copying assignments. Others were furiously running their fingers down the pages of their open textbooks, a trick Paige recognized as cramming for a test that would be held in five minutes. She smiled to herself. _Does this make be glad to be out of school or what?_ she thought amusedly.

A ringing bell told the students that their current class was over and that they had ten minutes to be at the next one if they didn't want to miss any of the session. As Paige moved with the flow of humanity, following the pull toward Rose, she was hit by a wave of tension that was not her own and a quick stretching of the psychic tether between them. _Something's after her_, she thought, _she's starting to run_. Her impression was verified by the sight of a male student knocked to the floor a short distance away, his books flying into the air. Paige looked around for the cause of her charge's flight. Two black-clad men and a woman in a blue top raced past her, leaving an unmistakable trace of evil in their wake. Paige darted after them, knowing these were the ones Rose was fleeing from.

The Witchlighter ignored groups of staring students as she bolted past them and out the school's front door with a bang. She raced through the open campus, following Rose's pull into an alley several blocks away. She was not surprised by the location or by the sight of her charge being cornered by her pursuers at the end of the alley. But Rose's behavior was a surprise; instead of cowering with fear, the young woman stood tall and defiant, staring down the evil trio. She raised her hands -- and sapphire flames erupted in her palms, forming the shape of balls.

"You warlocks want my power?" Rose challenged them. "Come and get it!"

Only too happy to oblige, the trio charged at her. The girl calmly released her two fireballs; one scored a direct hit into one male warlock, instantly burning him to ashes. The female and the remaining male dodged the second by blinking out of its way.

Paige slipped behind a trash-can at her end of the alley, not wanting to reveal herself to either Rose or the warlocks. Impressed by her charge's courage, she decided it was the perfect time to observe how the young woman fared against her attackers.

And Rose didn't disappoint. As the female warlock blinked in behind her, the girl immediately sensed it and viciously elbowed her assailant's abdomen, causing her to double over in pain. Rose grabbed the warlock by the hair and rammed her knee into her attacker's nose.

Suddenly, Rose heard a crackling noise behind her. She turned to see the male warlock moving in on her, an energy ball burning in his hand, which he must've obtained from another demon or witch. She threw the groaning female to the ground as he hurled the ball. Paige gasped as Rose evaded the oncoming energy with an impressive cartwheel; the lethal ball crashed harmlessly into a steel trash-can. The girl landed upright in full fighting stance and retaliated with a radiant stream of blue fire from her fingertips. It seared through the warlock's shirt and into his chest. Engulfed in a sheet of flame, he dropped to his knees with an agonized scream. He exploded a few seconds later, a wisp of smoke rising from his ashes.

As her cohort went up in flames, the female warlock struggled to her feet, her blazing eyes fixed on Rose's back. As if she had foreseen this, the girl spun and sent her attacker sprawling back onto the ground with a roundhouse kick. She stared at her fallen enemy and raised her eyes to the air between them. To Paige's shock, a ball of blue fire appeared and grew until it was the size of four fireballs combined. Rose gave a cool nod of her head -- and the giant ball shot towards the female warlock. Its flames devoured her before she could even scream.

Paige ducked back down behind the trash-can as Rose gazed about the alleyway. Satisfied that no one was present, the young woman flamed away.

The Witchlighter emerged from her hiding place. She walked to the end of the alley and stood staring at three piles of warlock ash on the ground, mulling over what she had just seen. And the conclusion she came to made her uneasy:

"I haven't seen a power display like this since Christy," Paige muttered to herself. "Not good."

**(X)**

The sole remaining Jenkins sister dived into an empty classroom, dodging a flurry of demonic energy balls, and landed on her stomach. She leapt to her feet, locked the door, and looked around for a place to hide. The Charmed Ones had been right when they warned her that reclaiming Magic School wasn't a one-witch job. And she had underestimated the demons she now faced; they worked so well in numbers that they were more than she had bargained for.

Spotting a nearby teacher's desk, Billie took cover behind it. Peering over the top, she noted a green chalkboard with the twelve signs of the Zodiac drawn on it in different colors. Posted on the wall were charts of the aurora borealis as well as of stars and the constellations they formed. This must have been an astronomy class, she reasoned.

She had no more time to ponder that. The classroom door blew off its hinges; it crashed through the window and landed outside in the school garden. A pair of demons entered, casting their gaze about for their prey. Moving quickly, Billie stood and flashed her hands out, telekinetically flinging them into the chalkboard. The demons cracked the board on impact, their bodies erasing the zodiac signs as they slid to the floor. Billie yanked a potion from her pouch and hurled it into the floor space between the demons. It exploded, creating a fire wave that consumed the pair.

"Three down, six to go," Billie commented grimly. She rose from behind the desk, went to the entrance, and peered out into the hall. There were no demons. She left the room, keeping her pace slow. She was now glad she wasn't wearing her heeled boots; the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floor would have stacked the odds against her even more than they were now.

But the odds were against her enough. As she went by another empty classroom, a demon leaped out and tackled her. She screamed as she hit the floor. Her attacker pinned her shoulders with his knees, punched her, and raked one side of her face with a clawed hand. Billie tried to shove him away with her arm, but she could only move her wrist.

_Projection power,_ she thought, _I need my projection power!_

She shut her eyes against the rain of blows and summoned her gift of projection, mentally picturing the desired weapon. An athamae appeared beside her in a glow of light. She flicked her wrist, telekinetically sending the blade into the demon's temple as he was about to land another punch on her face. Billie then found the strength to move her arm out from under his knee and telekinetically threw him off as he exploded along with the athamae, leaving scorch marks on the wall.

Billie sat up and leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, her head aching from the attack. She felt warm rivulets run down the side of her face and knew they were from the gashes made by her assailant. She touched the area and winced in pain. "Damn it," she muttered, seeing blood on her fingers.

Suddenly, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Billie turned to see four demons coming down the hall towards her. One by one, they each conjured neon blue energy balls from their palms. Tuning out her pain, the young witch bounced to her feet and assumed a fighting stance, her blue eyes narrowing.

"Here we go," she said tensely, bracing herself. "Round two."

**(X)**

Paige walked back across the campus, school pamphlet in hand, and entered the main building. Minutes later, her sensing power lured her into a classroom big enough for sixty students. One side was crowded while a few others were scattered around the other side. Paige instantly recognized Rose as one of those few students, sitting alone in a corner at the far end of the room. With one ear cocked toward the professor who was giving his lecture, she approached the young woman and calmly took a seat next to her. "What's this guy is going on about?" she casually asked.

Rose turned and stared at her. "He's 'going on about' mythology." She looked Paige over with a scornful expression. "And since you don't have a notebook, it's probably why you don't know."

Paige felt herself grow warm with embarrassment as she realized the girl was right; in her rush to glamour, she had forgotten to obtain a binder, that timeless symbol of student life. She gave an innocent laugh. "I left it back in my dorm." She added a dismissive shrug. "I hardly ever take notes, anyway." Seeing two binders on Rose's desk, she said with a grin, "I see you like taking notes."

"Yes, considering this is the only class I care about," said Rose, shooting an irritated glance in Paige's direction. "I've always studied mythology. Now, since you like ranting, I'd appreciate it if you would either shut up or go away. I'm busy."

Paige's eyebrows went up. _Ranting? I hardly said anything! _

One of the girl's books accidentally fell from her desk onto the floor. As Rose bent over to retrieve it, Paige spotted a tattoo on the back of the girl's neck. The Witchlighter's eyes widened as she looked at its design: A black rose with two green vines holding tiny sparks of blue fire on each end.

"Stop staring at me," Rose hissed with her back still turned to Paige, picking up her book.

Taken by surprise, Paige looked around for any reflection that would have alerted Rose, but she found none. "You're psychic as well?" she couldn't keep from asking.

Rose's head shot up at the question. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded in a whisper.

"I can answer that if we go somewhere private," the Witchlighter answered softly. She was ashamed at blowing her cover so early, making this student facade useless.

Rose thought for a moment and scanned the classroom quickly. When she saw that no one was looking their way, she took Paige by the shoulder and they flamed out together.

**(X)**

The two women materialized on a pebbled roof top in a pillar of roaring blue flames. Before Paige could open her mouth, Rose suddenly threw her down onto the surface of the roof and aimed an open hand at her, a sapphire-blue fireball emerging from her palm.

"What are you doing?" the startled Witchlighter said.

"Shut up! I'll ask the questions," snarled Rose. "Now, who are you? A shape-shifter? A demon? Another warlock?"

Paige began to rise. "Look, I'm not evil --"

"Stay down!" the girl shouted, her fireball becoming brighter as she held it aloft, ready to hurl it at Paige if she made a wrong move.

"Oh?" another voice calmly asked. "Not evil?"

The women turned to see Avo in a black suit and violet necktie, standing a short distance away. He put his hands in his pockets and smirked at Paige. "If you're not evil, then why are you disguised as a student?"

"Who are you?" Paige demanded.

Rose looked from Paige to the man in confusion. Avo smiled gently at her.

"Don't worry, Rose, I'll be up front with you. I'm a Darklighter, but I'm not here for you." He pointed at Paige. "I was tracking her. She's a Whitelighter. Didn't she tell you that?"

The girl stared at Paige. "You're a Whitelighter?" she exclaimed, her fireball burning in her palm.

Paige stood up. "Yes, I am," she confessed. She moved her hand across her face; lights danced around her as she returned to her true form. "I didn't want you to think I would guide you just because you're magical."

"Then why deceive her?" Avo asked smoothly. "I didn't. I must be the more trustworthy one."

"Trustworthy?" Paige sneered. "You have no business with Rose. You're just a Darklighter."

"Just a Darklighter is such an understatement. I want to show her that Whitelighters aren't exactly truthful. Evil may be flawed, but we're honest, believe it or not," Avo commented.

"I don't!" the Witchlighter snapped. She turned to Rose. "You shouldn't believe him, either."

"Rose, she wants to suppress your demonic side so you'll be a weak half-witch," Avo said.

"I'm half witch," Paige argued, trying to counter his ploy. "And I'm not weak!"

"Cut the crap, both of you!" Rose shouted, her fireball growing in size and ready to burst in streams.

"Rose, I'm telling you the truth and I can prove it," Paige said. She dug into her jacket pocket and fished out the ring Sandra had given her. "The Elders gave this to me so I could find you. It belonged to your mother Carmen. She was pure, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, until a demon had his way with her!" Rose snapped. The fire began to run up her arm as she stared at the ring. "How did you get that? Did you steal it?"

_I knew I should have trusted my instincts when I said the ring was a bad idea_ Paige thought. "The Elders gave it to me so I could track you."

"Well, it seems the Elders are worse than Whitelighters," commented Avo. "They're common thieves who take valuables from dead charges."

"No! He's twisting my words!" Paige said, glaring at him. "Rose, they took it after you were placed in foster care because of how your mother died."

The young woman glared murderously at Paige, the fire encircling her arm now blazing. "It's my mother's ring!" she screamed.

Before Paige could speak again, the ring suddenly vanished in a cloud of dark orbs. Horrified, she turned to see it materialize in the palm of Avo's extended hand. "And it's now rightfully yours, Rose," he said. "Do you want it?"

Her face alight with hope, Rose began walking toward Avo. Paige ran after her. "No, Rose, don't!"

The girl whirled around. "Get away from me!" she shouted. She flashed her blazing arm at the Witchlighter, shooting a deadly stream of blue fire. Paige instantly orbed out before the flames could incinerate her. She orbed back in to see Rose with Avo, Carmen's ring in her hand.

The demonic hybrid placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "Join me. I won't lessen your powers; I'll strengthen them."

"No, don't do it!" Paige shouted. "He just wants your powers, Rose! You don't have to surrender yourself to the likes of him. I just want to help you."

"No. If I'm going to be bound to choose a side, I'd rather have my powers close by me!" the young woman shot back. "They're all I have going for me and you're not taking them. If you come after me, I'll use them to kill you."

Rose placed her hand on Avo's. Together they turned into in a column of black orbs that trailed off into the sky and vanished.

Paige's eyes followed them, her face crumpling as she realized what had happened.

She had lost a charge to Evil.

**(X)**

In the Great Hall, Billie was down to three demons. The largest of them swung at her; she quickly rolled under his arm and dodged the blow. She rose, pulling the athamae from the back of her belt, and knifed her attacker in the back. He exploded in a fiery blast, but the shockwave slammed into Billie's chest and flung her into the air. She crashed to the marble floor, rolling into a table. She moaned in pain, too stunned to move as the remaining snarling pair of demons hurled their energy balls straight at her. She braced herself for the inevitable -- and the deadly energy was suddenly orbed back into its senders. Flames raced through their bodies, exploding them. The fires vanished, and in their place stood a familiar Witchlighter.

"Paige!" Billie breathed in relief.

"Sorry, but I won't lose two charges in one day," she remarked as she approached. "It would make too big a dent in my credibility."

Billie began to stand up, holding her smarting ribcage. "What happened?" she grunted.

"I'll tell you when we get home," Paige said, taking hold of the girl. "After I heal you, I have to do some research, and I hope a certain book of mine has the information I need."

Seconds after the women had vanished, Vilo, holding a large brown tome, cautiously rose from behind a brown oak table where he had hidden during the fight. To his vast relief, a stream of black orbs slithered into the Hall, materializing into Avo and Rose.

"My lord," Vilo cried.

Avo looked around him. "Where are the others?"

"The witch charge of the Witchlighters killed nearly all of them!" spluttered Vilo. "Then the Witchlighter showed up and killed the rest!" The telepath shook with fury. "That blonde thinks she's so bold because she was once half of the Ultimate Power!"

"You have your facts wrong," Avo said. "She is an Ultimate Power. Don't underestimate her; she too has a great role before her and it's one she'll arrive at soon. Billie may be a witch who's just above ordinary now, but one day she'll kill demons by merely blinking at them." He turned to Rose. "It's why Good can't be trusted with such powers, especially powers that can spiral out of control, such as physical projection."

Vilo looked at Rose excitedly. "Is this the witch I sensed in New York?"

"She is," Avo said, smiling at the girl. "This is Rose, someone who's a match for Billie. With the proper training, she'll be the perfect weapon."

Rose put her hands on her hips and smirked at Avo. "Look, if I'm to do this gig, I need to know what you expect of me, since you had a motive for saving me from that Whitelighter."

Avo took the tome from Vilo and telekinetically flipped through its pages. "I'm trying to unite all Evil under one roof to prove I'm worthy of the Source's throne. The demonic factions think that since I'm half Darklighter, I can't be trusted with that power."

"Half Darklighter?" said Rose, arching an eyebrow. "What else are you?"

"Let's just say we're the same," Avo answered. "I believe your powers can help us, and trust me when I say that if I gain the Source's throne, those who stand beside me will be rewarded."

"And your plans for me?" Rose asked, now very interested in her new companion.

"They start right here," Avo said, coming to a page.

Rose read its title. "Valen?" she said curiously. "Who's that?"

"A very powerful woman that has been trapped by enchantments. You're the key to her freedom; you can use your powers to release her from her prison."

"She's stronger than you? That means she'll claim the throne for herself."

"I disagree," Avo said, grinning darkly. "I know of a way to tame her."

**(X)**

Paige flipped through her Book of Shadows while Billie rested on near-by chair.

"Man," she sighed heavily, "those guys put up one damn good fight." She looked at Paige. "How is it I was almost fully healed after we came out of orb?"

"Leo taught me how to do it," Paige answered as she continued to go through her tome. "He explained the whole process and I had it down after several tries. Phoebe and I have actually conversed while orbing, but how long we can talk depends on the length of the trip."

Now feeling rested, Billie got up and walked over to Paige. "Who are you searching for?" she asked as she stood beside her.

"A Darklighter who convinced my charge that Evil has more to offer," Paige said. "I have to save her."

"You think you still have a chance?"

"Well, you came to your senses, didn't you?"

Billie smiled wryly. "Yeah, but that was due to a nagging feeling that killing you was wrong." She gave Paige a concerned look. "Can you say you formed such a connection to this girl in the past few hours that you'd be safe from her?"

The Witchlighter sighed and shook her dark head. "No, I can't," she admitted. "It's just that failure doesn't sit well with me. I wasn't quick enough to defend the good Whitelighters are capable of and..."

She stopped and continued flipping through the pages of her Book until she came to one containing the image of a black-clad Darklighter with tribal markings on his face. "And here he is," she said. "His name is Avo."

"What's the demonic skinny on him?" Billie asked, looking over Paige's shoulder at the entry.

Paige proceeded to read: "Avo is…" Her eyes went wide at the following information. "Avo is half demon and half Darklighter, the first ever of his kind. He is an extremely powerful being but has envied those who possess the dark magic of the Underworld. He is known to the Demonic Council and all Darklighters. Some say his demonic powers have been weakened by his Darklighter blood, and this is why he has always been denied the throne of the Source. As an alternative, the Demonic Council promoted Avo to the rank of Head Darklighter."

Paige abruptly stopped and stepped away from the Book in disbelief. "A Darklighter half-breed. Who would've ever thought?"

Billie took up reading the rest of the entry: "Avo is known to have a vast array of powers, among them dark orbing, telekinesis, psionic fireballs; thermal balls. His skill as an archer is without peer." She scanned the page further and came upon the final sentence. She read it and slowly turned to Paige in dismay. "There's no vanquishing spell or potion."

"I figured as much," said Paige, pacing back and forth in agitation. "Now that I think of it, he must have been the one who sent that demon-Darklighter duo after me the day I learned of my new destiny." She shook her head. "That son of a bitch must be trying to prove he's powerful enough to rule the Underworld."

"By killing you," a grim Billie added. "How do we get him?"

"That's just it. I have no idea," Paige said. She sighed heavily. "I'm in for one hell of a fight."

She flashed on Rose. For the first time since becoming a Witchlighter, Paige had a charge who seemed to be a lost cause. She wasn't sure if she was going to attempt a rescue, but she had certainly begun to prepare herself for Avo.

**End of Chapter **

**Authors Note: Do you feel it ended a little early or happened a little fast? Much will be answered in the next chapter "Darklighter Infection" so please review. **

**Credit **goes to (Cnet's) Melissa for helping me with the glamour spell. Also, the charges **Alex** and **Rose **were created from little entries from Aby and Temporal Death, in that respective order, in my Create a Charge Applications. If you're interested in taking part of this story, message me and I'll give you the details. I'm the only one that plans the storylines, I just use the charges as extra help for subplots, though Rose will become a more than official character.

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	8. Darklighter Infection

Bottom of Form 3

**A/Note: Okay, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all. This will be my present for my readers. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. If any mistakes, please feel free to jot them down since I personally edited it myself. Also, thank you for all who have reviewed as yesterday (December 24th) "Witchlighter" reached its 100th review. So thank you all. A toast to the 200th review! That'll be the deep future, but just enjoy this chapter and please review with your thoughts. Warning: Longest Chapter yet.**

**Chapter 8- Darklighter Infection**

Teaserline: If you can't beat her…make her join you.

_**September 14th, 2006 **_

Paige's green VW beetle pulled up to an apartment building on a chilly San Francisco morning. Paige stepped out of the car with her brown hair blowing due to the wind with a brown suede jacket keeping her warm. Her friend, Billie came out on the opposite side in a black jean jacket and gave Paige a wide-eyed look.

"Are we going to stand out in the cold or are we going to lock the door and get inside?" Billie asked as she tightened her jacket together preventing the cool air from getting to her.

"Sorry, I'm a bit scattered," Paige confessed as she locked her car with the press of one button from her key. "Let's go." Paige walked around her car onto the sidewalk and together with Billie, they walked into the apartment building. Paige placed her hand around the lobby knob and turned, but it was shut closed. "I don't remember which apartment," Paige admitted as she looked through the list of apartment numbers.

"Wow, you really are out of it," Billie said as she twirled her wrist, unlocking the door telekinetically and pushing it open. She knew Paige had taken Rose's loss hard, but she felt there was something else behind it. "I got this problem solved, but how are we supposed to find her now? Knock on every door and ask every resident if they're coming into their oracle destiny?"

"No, I'll sense her as we get closer," Paige explained.

"I know you want to cut down on the orbing and live life on a more mortal level for Henry, but can we please at least orb in front of this chick's door?" Billie begged as she looked around the corners of the lobby. "Henry's not here, there aren't any cameras, so pretty please with a cherry on top, can we orb?"

Paige quickly grabbed onto Billie's shoulder and they shot up through the lobby ceiling in a cloud of orbs. They orbed back in and appeared in front of her charge's door.

"Whoa, aggressive much?" Billie asked as she recalled how quick Paige was to take a hold of her. "Should we talk about this Rose chick before we go in there?"

"No, I'm fine. She has evil in her and embraced it. I'm not exactly brewing vanquishing potions, but I'm hoping we can still find a way to save her," the Witchlighter said as she knocked on the door with two taps. "I've already learned my lesson that if it comes down to me or a charge in battle, I can't risk my life."

"I wouldn't have had anything to do with that lesson now, would I?" Billie joked, but didn't receive her expected response of Paige laughing. Paige was really out of it and was more hurt than she was letting on.

The door opened and revealed a young woman with dark brown hair that was all pushed to her left side. Her green eyes were practically bulging out with her sage green shaman top and lime green wavy dress. Evelyn Wendell was definitely a looker, but even more important, she was an oracle. "Paige, I presume?"

"Wow, she is psychic," Billie joked.

"Yeah, that's right," Paige nodded, "And this is my friend, Billie. She's a witch."

"Cool to meet you," Billie said with an extended hand. Evelyn willingly shook her hand and Billie's hand ended back up in her pocket after.

"Come in, please." Evelyn welcomed the two into her home. Her house looked as if she hired a clan of gypsies to decorate it with burgundy star-patterned curtains partially covering the stain-glassed windows, violet velvet chairs with a round table in the middle that was covered with a crimson blanket that had both a yellow moon on it as well as a silver sun. On top of the circular table was a crystal ball, which stood on a small oak stand surrounded by pyrite crystals.

As Billie walked in, she examined the plants that were aligned against the walls. "I can make some kick ass potions with some of these ingredients," she exclaimed as she pointed at a tree, "You have Devil's Berries! I can knock a demon unconscious out with those things."

"Yeah, I keep them here for a couple friends of mine," Evelyn said as she continued to walk to the core of the living room. She took a seat at what she considered the head of the table and eyed her guests. "So, Paige, why exactly were you assigned to me?"

"I assume the Elders wanted me to check on how you're doing with your powers. You've been handling all of this oracle business for a few months now with no Whitelighter aid, so on that note, how are you doing? You seem fine with the way this place is set up," Paige said as she approached the table.

"I'm doing fine," Evelyn said. "I can't really tap into my powers without my little friend here," the oracle said as she pointed at her crystal ball. "Without it, I hold no actual power."

"Are you okay with that?" The blonde asked as she felt Evelyn wanted more out of her power.

"I occasionally wish I could help my witch friends take on forces of Evil, but I know that this is my place. My power is well valued and that's why I keep this place cloaked with crystals," Evelyn answered.

"Why is it that you keep crystals surrounding your crystal ball then?" Billie asked, clearly intrigued with learning how oracles operate.

Before answering, Evelyn pointed to two of the other seats around the table, inviting Billie and Paige to join her. Billie was quite receptive as she pulled out a seat and sat down. Paige was either being collective or was just out of it.

"I keep the crystals protecting my shiny ball of past and future visions for a few reasons. One being that if warlocks, demons –take your pick– happen to break the first defenses and get in, my crystal ball will remain safe and hopefully myself. I can't risk my crystal ball being stolen or whatever visions and prophecies I come across will be accessible to others with other forms of magic. I can't risk someone taking advantage of my visions. Another advantage of protecting my crystal ball is that if someone uses some magic to spy on me, my spot here will be protected and they won't gain any insight on my meeting or what I have foretold," Evelyn explained with great delight.

"That is truly impressive!" Billie exclaimed and turned to Paige who had a half smile on her face. "Isn't it?"

"It is, Evelyn. I have no idea on why the Elders would have wanted me to come and check up on you," Paige wondered.

"Perhaps there is another reason," the oracle guessed. "I don't need to have ever foreseen the future to know that something is clearly troubling you."

"Yeah, I lost a charge to evil recently. I just don't understand how she was so easily influenced to join Avo," Paige said staring directly at the crystal ball though her perception was just blurry, as she seemed as if she was gazing out, "Can you maybe give me some insight on what her life was like?"

"I'll do my best to find the moment when evil began to take some interest to her. Do you have anything of hers?" Evelyn asked, knowing something personal helped since her power wasn't as strong yet.

"Just a name, unfortunately. The only possession I had of hers is in her possession now. We began to form a connection that is practically gone now, but since there might be some remnant, can you work off of that?" Paige asked realizing it was a stretch.

"I'll do my best. Take my hand," Evelyn told Paige with her outstretched hand. Paige accepted and on her own will concentrated on Rose. Evelyn hovered one hand over the crystal ball and her eyes glowed a milky white. "I'm sensing something."

"Are we able to see the past or future in the crystal ball?" The Ultimate Powered witch asked.

"Try a spell that will allow us to see what she sees," Paige requested realizing she had to remain concentration on Rose as it was pure luck that Evelyn was able to make any vision just off of a thought.

Billie's eyes shot up to the ceiling as she began to mentally form her spell.

_A crystal ball is covered in mist,_

_Shielded from the golden eye,_

_With this spell, Let us see,_

_What we've been denied_

The crystal ball glowed and the three women gazed into it. They began to view the Rose's past…

_A younger Rose sat under an autumn-colored tree avoiding the sun. In her possession was a black book with an orange rose symbol on the front. She was in her home of Columbia enjoying her free period in school as the autumn winds flipped the pages of her book. As she began to thumb back a few pages, she looked up and saw other students, who just like her, were taking advantage of their free period by hanging out, studying, and eating. To ruin their free time, a hard and cold rain began to fall from the dark clouds causing the students to flee…all but Rose. She remained under her tree knowing she had no reason to run from the rain. She loved how cold water felt against her body, which she always found strange because of her fiery powers. _

_The wind then blew the rain under the tree and the mist reached Rose's face and she smiled. She closed her book avoiding the pages getting wet. She placed it on the grass that was still dry and stood up with her arms stretched out to her side as she walked into the rain, embracing it. The rain began to drench her clothes, but she couldn't have cared less. _

_One second she was staring at the remaining kids make their way into the building and then her sight changed…she was no longer looking through her own eyes, but someone else's. She saw a built girl with a bat in her hand. She swung the bat at the person that Rose was watching through and the person bent over to the ground and shot a glance at a door that read: El Cuarto De Bano._

_Rose returned to her own body and began to think about who the girl was and who she could've been beating on. "Cecilia!" Rose began to run to the bathroom where she saw her best friend being bullied. Cecilia was supposed to have been in class at that moment. Why was she out in the back of the building near the bathroom battling Selena? _

_Rose turned the corner and saw Cecilia on the ground with blood pouring out of her mouth and Rose spotted the puddle of thick blood beside her. The rain began to pound against the blood causing it to flow in streams around. Cecilia was dead. The bitch who took her life was standing a few feet from her body with the bloody bat. She killed her for menial reasons. She had to pay._

"_Pendeja!" Rose screamed as sapphire flames began to swirl around her wrists. Selena's eyes lit up and even dropped the bat to the ground to rub her brown eyes to see if she was actually witnessing this. "Matador!" The demonic witch shouted at the top of her lungs as the flames shot from her hands, roaring past the heavy rain that had no chance in stopping it. Selena naturally turned around to run, but the sapphire fire caught her before she could fully turn around. _

_Selena screamed as the fire consumed her body and as more fire added from Rose's end. Rose wasn't showing mercy and kept the fire bursting with steam in her face. Her own screams intensified the flames to grow stronger. An enormous ball of fire stood from where Selena once stood, but Rose hadn't even realized she was dead yet. Selena's screams echoed in behind Rose's. When the flames finally died, Rose dropped to the ground letting out rivers of tears. She had no one else in the world now...but she still had her powers to protect her._

The crystal ball's glow died as all the women exchanged glances at each other. Paige let go of Evelyn's hand and ran her hand through her dark brown hair. "How does that help me understand why she was so willing to jump to Team Evil? It obviously was a tough moment for her, but why?! That gives me no insight as to how she became the woman she is now."

"The way I see it, Paige, is that put her on the path to becoming evil. She must've learned that being good has its faults as opposed to being evil where you aren't worrying about how you'll attack a random Innocent," Evelyn explained. "You just do it. That's why demons don't experience human emotions."

"Evelyn, do you think you can maybe give us some insight on the future? Maybe Rose's?" Billie asked.

"It may prove difficult to search the prophetic winds for the answers you seek, but I can try," Evelyn said as she placed both hands over the crystal ball and began to wave them around. She no longer needed contact with Paige after having experienced some form of a spiritual connection with Rose through vision means. Her eyes glowed that milky white once again and several figures began to appear in the crystal ball.

_In the Great Hall of Magic School, Rose was tossing around several of her fireballs at witches, incinerating them. Rose laughed as she continued to murder more witches as other battles are occurring throughout the school. Paige flew into the Great Hall and watched as Rose burned another witch. Rose turned her attention towards Paige and released a stream of sapphire flames her way..._

The crystal ball went clear again. Paige stared at Evelyn. "What was that about? Is that my death or something?"

"I don't know, Paige, but I know that the vision is near. I'm not that powerful so I can only see the near future," Evelyn informed with her returned green eyes. "Shall I try to look more into your future? I'll only do so upon your request."

"That'll be fine. Maybe it gives me some insight on this battle," Paige replied back as she already shifted her gaze to the crystal ball, waiting for the next images to play. And seconds later, they did…

_In the Mitchell-Matthews Manor, Paige was sitting in her bedroom with her open palms on her stomach revealing her large belly that looked to be about five months pregnant…_

The crystal ball went blank, but a new event quickly came up.

_In the living room of Paige's home, her and Henry were standing and Paige had a young child cradled in her arms. "I don't know what we're supposed to do with him." Henry looked at the boy and replied. "We don't have too many options, do we, Paige?"_

And once again…the ball went blank…then picked up a new image.

_Paige was in her bedroom standing by her bed with the same boy in her arms. "It's okay, Peter. We'll take care of you." Paige smiled at the young boy._

The crystal ball went clear. Paige ran her hands through her hair once again and stood up, beginning to pace. "I'm going to be a mother? I can't handle this right now."

"This might be in the future, Paige. You probably still got a few years before this happens," Billie said in hopes of comfort.

"No, Evelyn's powers are limited and I looked about four or five months pregnant in that vision. I can't believe this. Does this mean I'm pregnant now?" Paige questioned and stopped in place.

"Maybe this is part of the greater reason you were brought here. To learn this about yourself so you can begin to prepare and discover the meaning of the visions. Some things are obviously unclear. I personally don't understand the second vision," Evelyn said and placed her hands on the table.

"Me either," Paige said with deep confusion, "Was I fighting with the decision to give up my son? Am I doing the same thing that my parents did to me? How do I come across that path after who I've been?"

"We might be misinterpreting it. I'm really curious about this Magic School battle with Rose killing all those people," Billie said. This was the first day she'd ever seen Rose and her first impression was a pure murderer. "I should look into it."

"It seems as if you both have answers you must seek," Evelyn commented.

"Yeah, and I think we'd best do it at home," the Charmed One replied. "Evelyn, thank you so much for opening us to the future. We'll do what we can with the knowledge you've provided for us."

Evelyn stood up and folded her hands. "I'm glad I helped. Let your bosses know I'm doing just fine."

"I'll let them know you're doing more than just fine," Paige said to her charge. Paige pulled out her car keys and handed them to Billie. "Take my car home. I'm going to orb on over so I can talk with Henry about these visions."

Billie took a hold of the keys and placed it in her pocket. "I got no objection. When I get home though, I want to use the Book if you don't mind. I want to follow up on this Magic School assassination of Rose's as well as make some potions that will help us to fight her. "

Paige rolled her eyes as she placed her hands in her jeans' pocket. She didn't like thinking about fighting Rose and vanished in a column of orbs that ascended through the ceiling.

Billie smiled at Evelyn and asked, "Any chance you got some extra Devil's Berries?"

**(X)**

The Witchlighter orbed into her bedroom to find Henry resting under the brown comforter of the bed. Henry was normally active on his days off, but he'd been working hard in order to get a promotion and fatigue got the best of him. Little did he know, there were bigger reasons that he was going to need that extra money. Paige still couldn't believe she was pregnant. She hadn't taken a test to confirm it, but if the visions were true, there was no point. The Charmed One walked over to her side of the bed and sat down, gently hopping up and down to let her presence known with a whisper of, "Henry…"

The mortal grunted as he turned onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. What he saw was his angel with a smile on her face as a response to his. "Hey," he simply greeted.

"We have to talk, Henry," Paige said as she pulled off her jacket and tossed it onto the foot of the bed. "It's safe to say it's life changing."

Henry without wasting another second, pulled off the covers and sat up against the oak backboard. He took Paige's hand into his and looked into her brown eyes, "Are you okay, Paige? What, is it a demon or something?"

This took Paige back. She had something serious to tell Henry and he automatically jumped to think that her life was in danger. Was life always going to be like this?

"No, there are demons, but none dealing with this new source of info. It's possible that I'm…that I'm…going to get my job back at Social Services," Paige lied. She didn't have it in her to confess to being potentially pregnant. What if she got his hopes up or found out that he truly wasn't interested in having a child?

"Paige, that's great. Do you really think that you can handle that though?" Henry questioned. He had a feeling that wasn't Paige's full story, but figured there might be some truth in it.

"I guess I didn't really consider that, forget it then," Paige said as she moved off of the bed and began to head for the door.

"Paige…" her husband called out. "Talk to me."

"Later," Paige said. "I actually have to look up something in the Book before Billie comes back and hogs it." Paige stormed out of the bedroom.

Henry sat on the bed thinking to himself.

**(X)**

Billie stopped at a red light and examined the scene around her. She turned to her left where she saw a young and attractive man smiling at her. Billie smiled back, taken back by his looks and then turned the opposite direction. "Like I have time for men," she muttered to herself. To her right, she spotted a man run into an alley with a terrified look marked on his face. A man in a black trench coat with a crossbow strapped on his back. "Darklighter. Damn it." Billie quickly moved and parked the car. She ran out to chase the Darklighter.

She entered the alley and quickly turned a corner where she saw the Darklighter aiming his crossbow at the frightened Innocent. Billie quickly swiped her arm through the air causing the crossbow to telekinetically fly out of the Darklighter's grip. She placed her hands on her hip, awaiting her opponent to turn around and insult her.

He quickly turned on his heel and stared at her. "Stay out of this, witch!"

Billie looked at her watch and let out a fake yawn. "It's a little early to be out hunting right now, isn't it?" She enjoyed throwing in an arrogant punch line to provoke her enemies further.

"Actually, all the good ones come out in the morning on their way to their benign and supporting jobs," the Darklighter sneered back.

The Darklighter and Billie had a stare down as he made a move for his crossbow. With his arm outstretched just as he was about to grab his weapon, what felt like an invisible catapult sent him flying through the air and slammed against the wall. The impact caused the Darklighter to blow up in flames that incinerated his body and his inky black and purple orbs soared through the air.

Billie ran over to the Innocent who was still frightened. "I'm here to help, I promise. You saw what I just did, didn't you?" She asked in hopes that fear didn't blind him from watching the scene.

"Yeah, but what's going on? I don't get it," he whimpered.

"Damn. I'm not too good at this whole 'Introduction to Magic' speech. I'm the type of girl to just dive into things, so I'm going to bring you to someone who can help out," Billie explained.

**(X)**

In Magic School, Rose sat with one leg over another on a table, picking at her cuticles. Rose's hair was tied into a long ponytail and was clad in raven blue pants and a violet sleeveless top. "How much longer, Avo?" The demonic witch asked with a noticeable tone of impatience.

Avo stood in the center of the Great Hall with his arms open. His tribal markings were glowing a radiant purple as he was awaiting something. The inky black and purple orbs from the fallen Darklighter phased upwards through the floor and flew directly into Avo's chest. "He's the one I've been waiting for…"

"The one that failed? Why do you waste time searching for dead Darklighters?" Rose asked, casting a glance at Vilo who was reading a book at a table with a stacked pile of books of all colors beside him.

"As the Head of All Darklighters, when one Darklighter is finished off, I obtain their magic again adding to my strength. With my powers, I can also help imbue others with Darklighter power if they're already on a path of evil," Avo explained. "That's why it's necessary that I call upon the scattered orbs of Darklighters and I can also learn of the fallen brethren so I can command the lower lighters to avenge the death."

"The Charmed Ones must've killed countless Darklighters. Did you avenge all of them?" Rose questioned she hopped of the table.

"Over the years we made attempts, but I commanded them not to do so as it would only result in more dead Darklighters. Some clan leaders went against my order and the recent succeeded in killing a future Whitelighter named Mikelle and almost succeeded in killing the Witchlighter, but in the end died. To add insult to injury, she became a Whitelighter anyway and saved the Witchlighter in the process. It goes to show that my word is to be trusted," the demonic Darklighter complained.

"So are we avenging the death of this Darklighter? I need some action, you've been keeping me cooped up in this school for over a week and have only given me one little witch to kill," Rose bitched. "Her pathetic attempts to fight back and sorry excuse of screams weren't enough to keep me satisfied. I need more than this, Avo!" She screamed and caused Vilo to look up from his reading.

"Silence, Rose." Avo said, placing his hands to his side. "You'll get yours in the coming battle. Frankly, you'll be tired of killing if all goes well. For now, I need to make a new move on the Witchlighter."

"What do you have in mind?" The demonic witch asked, interested.

"Well, for one, the witch Billie Jenkins killed the Darklighter protecting a future Whitelighter. We're going to fight her, but we'll need extra help. She's powerful, which is a reason she's under the care of the Witchlighter. I want to meet with one of my Darklighter Savants. They'll be able to help me imbue power into the Witchlighter," the demonic Darklighter sneered.

"Why can't you infect her yourself? Don't have the power, big scary Darklighter King?" Rose asked as she slowly crept up to him with a taunting face. She'd grown use to having her fun with Avo knowing he needed her enough not to kill her.

"She's not on a path to evil, so no," Avo replied, ignoring Rose's taunting antics. "The Savants are going to be the ones that infect her and lure her to our side. Hopefully, this won't go down as some useless possession of evil that she fights out of. With her on our side, we'll claim Magic School and then take over the Underworld."

"How can we prevent that? I sure as hell don't want her making any attempts at trying to save me," Rose said. "I love fighting for this side, despite the lack of fighting."

"To the Underworld," Avo answered as he vanished in a stream of inky black and purple orbs.

Rose smiled at Vilo who stared at her. "Hey, book worm…I'll race you." Rose followed her leader in a blast of sapphire flames that consumed her.

Vilo put down his book on the table and the telepathic ally vanished in shimmers.

**(X)**

Paige sat in her altar room with her Book of Shadows on her lap. She didn't even know what she was searching for, but she just felt safe knowing she had the Book by her side. The Book wasn't just used for magic, but comfort and escape as well. When her nerves got the best of her before she married Henry, she chose to busy herself with the Halliwell Book of Shadows. It was always there for her then and although it's a new book, it was here for her now. As she flipped through the pages, she reached Avo's page. She stared at the image of her enemy and stood up, still holding the Book with outstretched arms.

She walked over to her potions table and placed the tome down beside it. She turned the pages and landed on a page that read, "Darklighter Vanquishing Potion" and began to toss in the ingredients starting with standard explosive ingredients. "Should I combine this with a standard demon potion?" Paige muttered, knowing her opponent was half and half. "It would make sense…"

"Must you always think aloud?" Henry asked as he walked in with a grin spread across his face.

Paige responded with a half smile. "That's just the type of person I am. I have my own thoughts, but I can't keep them all to myself."

"So what are you doing in here? Need help chasing after a demon?" Henry asked. As her husband, he was never comfortable just standing by, watching her orb off into danger and figured it was time to get himself better situated with the magical world.

"My enemy is far too dangerous for you. He might just be too dangerous for me," Paige said as she tossed in powdered toadstool.

"So why not train me to help you out? Prep me to help out with potions and maybe the mechanics of spell writing. I hate standing by here, letting my wife run off to fight. Show that you don't just look at me as a mortal man," Henry said.

Paige wiped her hands clean of the potion ingredients with a nearby cloth for that specific purpose and placed it back down. She was taken back by Henry's words and knew they were completely sincere and not part of some manly bravado. "I don't mean to treat you as a mortal. I just know the dangers you carry with being mortal. If a series of fireballs collide with you, you will be swallowed in scorching flames. My intentions are to keep you safe and alive. What if we had kids one day and I had to raise them by myself because some demon killed you while you were protecting me?" Paige didn't mean to burst out the last line, but it was too late. There was no way to take it back now; she could only to observe Henry's reaction.

"Paige, I love you and I want to defend you no matter the circumstances. Kids at this point are hypothetical and we haven't really discussed that factor so much yet, but I don't want you bringing in future children as your defense for the present," Henry argued.

Billie then walked in with the Whitelighter-to-be. She directed him to a seat and tossed Paige's keys onto the table beside the Book of Shadows. "Hey, I got another mortal on the path of greatness for you, Paige. Though this little present didn't exactly come with a Darklighter warranty, so I took down the bad guy allowing you to enjoy your gift."

"What's going on?" John Waverman, the future Whitelighter asked. "My friend was killed in front of me and then you tell me that powers exist and you just tell _them_," he said pointing at the Mitchells, "Like it happens everyday!"

"His friend?" Paige asked. "Maybe his Whitelighter or another future Whitelighter?" She guessed with the knowledge that those would be the only two reasons a Darklighter would kill. "I would gamble my chips towards Whitelighter since it's rare that future lighters are seen together."

"Yeah, but the Darklighter didn't put up much of a fight against my telekinetic impact," Billie boasted knowing Paige would know what she's talking about from the first time Billie came to the house battling demons, telekinetically throwing some into walls and combusting them.

"Nice work, so he's safe then," Paige commented. "We just got to educate him on the whole magic thing and he's well on his way. I basically got this speech nailed down…"

**(X)**

In a Darklighter lair of the Underworld, Avo, Rose, and Vilo entered and looked around to see many Darklighters hard at work performing different objections. They walked past them and into another lair where they spotted a Darklighter Savant. He wore faded black robes and had long gray hair along with a long beard of the same color. He possessed a bronze chain around his neck and had similar markings on his face like Avo, but smaller.

"Savant," Avo addressed.

The Savant turned around to his master and bowed before him. "Great Avo, how may I serve you?"

"You sure got these boys whipped." Rose said with folded arms.

"I need you to concoct your strongest infection poison and I'll personally help ensure that it's the strongest," Avo said with narrowed eyes. He held out his hand and a blade dark orbed into his open palm. He walked over to a cauldron that had dark ingredients including Darklighter blood and cut his palm, allowing blood to flow out of his hand. After he felt he poured enough, he held his palm upside and walked closer to the Savant. "Stand up and cure me."

Darklighter Savants weren't just used as potion technicians, but we're also the rare breed of Darklighters that could heal fellow Darklighters, but only did so for the strongest. This earned them their name as they were part of a wise few that were capable into tapping into the ability. The Savant hovered his hands over Avo's slit palm, a gray glow emanated and Avo's skin began to stretch and covered the gash. After Avo's wound had eaten itself closed, he shrugged off the minor pain that he once felt at a larger scale and glared at the Savant. "Get started on that infection. I'll return shortly expecting it finished."

Avo vanished in his orbs, as Rose did in her flames followed by Vilo in his shimmers. All that was left was a Savant who was given an opportunity to impress his boss with pressuring high stakes; his life.

**(X)**

Paige and Billie were the only ones left in the altar room. Billie sat on a chair with the Book of Shadows on her lap as Paige continued working on her potion. Paige had explained magic to John and sent him on his way with Henry driving him home.

"Do you really think that a potion mixed with the effects to take down a demon and Darklighter is going to be enough to stop him?" Billie asked with a skeptical tone. "I think with the knowledge of his entry alone, we know that he deserves a little more credit than that."

"Fine, so write a spell to take him down as I finish this. This potion may just be the key in killing him," Paige said in a tone that didn't even convince herself. The potion then exploded and wisps of smokes rose from the cauldron. "I guess we'll have our answer soon enough."

"Okay, I obviously wasn't given enough time to write a spell, so are we just using the potions?" Billie asked as she stood up, closing the Matthews tome and placing it back on the podium.

"We can try to think of one on the drive over or we'll wing one," Paige told her as she poured the potion from its ladle, down a funnel, allowing it to swirl into a vial. She repeated the same process for three more potions and stocked two in her pockets and handed the last two to Billie. Paige grabbed her keys from the table and proceeded out of the altar room and down the steps. When they reached the bottom floor, a Darklighter orbed in before them with his crossbow already aimed at Paige.

He pressed his index finger against the trigger of the crossbow without hesitation and the infected arrow flew directly at Paige.

Paige threw out her arm before her, her keys shot through the air as she tapped into her power and orbed the projectile back at the Darklighter. The arrow pierced through the Darklighter's chest, combusting him in immediate flames as his orbs shot through the ceiling.

"You sure took care of that problem," Billie commended.

"Yeah, I guess, though…" Paige stopped mid-speech as an arrow plunged through her lower back, forcing her to fall forward.

The same moment Billie turned around to find the attacker, Henry walked in and charged towards Paige, screaming her name. Billie threw her arm forward to attack the Darklighter, but was too late as he fled in dark orbs.

"Oh my God, Billie, what do we do?" Henry shouted in panic. "Do you know how to contact other Whitelighters?" Henry grabbed the tail of the arrow and pulled it out as fast as he could. "She told me she got a healing present from Phoebe. See if you can find that!"

Just as Billie began to run up the steps, Paige's wound began to close itself with light that started off gold and quickly shifted to gray.

"Billie, look!" Henry shouted at her, causing her to run back down to inspect.

Paige let out a cough and stood up. She looked at both Henry and Billie and waved both her hands at them sending them flying across the house in black and purple orbs. Billie slammed against the closet door as Henry banged his head against the wall besides the front door. Avo appeared beside her with a grin.

"Care to join me?" He asked with an extended hand. It was the same extended hand that Paige saw Rose take before they vanished out of sight leaving her betrayed. This time she was the betrayer as she placed her hand in his and together vanished in dark orbs.

His wife and a stranger was the last thing Henry saw before the pain caught up with him and knocked him out.

**(X)**

In Avo's personal lair, he stood in the center with his hands folded behind his back. He was proud of a job well done and just had to make sure that it stayed that way. He had to keep her attention on the allure of being evil showing her that her new options of taking advantage of her powers and spells can gain her great pleasure.

Rose sat along side Vilo with one leg over another. "How long is she going to take to find out what she wants to wear? The chick can glamour, so what's taking her so long to pick? I wish she would hurry already so you can give her the grand tour of the Underworld and we can kill like a merry family."

"Do you hear yourself when you speak?" Vilo questioned. "She's a Charmed One and knows of the many labyrinths in the Underworld, having tracked down demons for years. He's simply showing her how the factions of Darklighters operate and I'm quite interested myself. Demons are forbidden in these areas and I take it in great honor to be able to stride in these parts."

Dark curtains were then moved aside and out walked Paige. Her hair was no longer the usual dark brown, but a fresh looking black with red tips. She wore a black halter top that was very revealing for her cleavage. Running up her arms and to her shoulders were gray lace sleeves with silky finger cut gloves running along her hands. For her lower body, she wore black leather pants that were cut on the left side and had black shoes on. Being evil was a good look for her.

"What a way to embrace the stereotypical 'Girl gone bad' look," Rose sarcastically said. "I guess I can commend you on not wearing too much leather." Rose clapped twice.

"Jealous you're no longer the head chick in charge?" Paige asked with a grin. "Keep challenging me and we'll see if you have a mouth to speak out of by the end of the day."

Avo chuckled and held his hands up, "Easy girls. No magical cat fights today. We must teach a potential Queen of Darklighters how to wield and target enemies with crossbows and introduce her to all the sub sections of this realm."

"I know plenty about wielding crossbows having used them against Darklighters," Paige said insulting the Demonlighter that she didn't even treat as her boss. "What I need to know is the method of summoning one to my possession. Is it as simple as thinking and blinking?" Paige remembered when Phoebe told her about her and Piper's warlock experience and how to tap into their blinking power.

"It is simple, but I'm afraid not as easy as doing something people come across every day," Avo replied in reference to blinking. "You need to picture it coming into your possession and then your power shall conjure it."

"That sounds almost as easy," Paige said.

Paige held her hands before her and pictured a black crossbow she had seen on several occasions. In a cloud of black smoke, a crossbow materialized into her possession and she eyed it with a smile. "That was easy. What's next?" Paige held the crossbow by her waist with one hand and placed the free hand on her waist, awaiting the next objective. "I kinda want to get this over with so I can get some killing in."

"Finally!" Rose exclaimed. "Someone who is speaking my language! I like you much better than when you were a goody two-shoes Whitelighter."

Paige ignored the demonic witch and focused on Avo who she was viewing in a new light. Being evil led to an attraction of Avo and his devilish features. She admired the markings on his face and was hoping she'd get her own one day. "What's next? Target practice?"

"No," Avo simply replied. "I take you to meet the others."

**(X)**

Henry barged into the altar room with his cell phone in hand. "I'm calling Piper and Phoebe so they can come over here and…"

"Vanquish you?" Billie interrupted as she bottled a potion and placed it with a group of other potions. "If you call them over here when I'm perfectly capable to handle this, Piper's going to be the bearer of your arm. Let me just play this out before we get the sisters involved."

"Fine," Henry gave in. "What the hell happened down there?"

"I'm still trying to figure that one out," Billie admitted. "My guess though would have to be that the arrow didn't contain the regular poison that normally comes with Darklighter arrows. This must be a specially made poison that infects the attacked person."

"That sounds like a fair speculation," Henry stated. "What makes you sure that can't be it?"

"Because there's nothing in the Book of Shadows about Darklighters having the power to do that. There are different types that are listed down, but none with the power to convert people." Billie then halted. "And here's the other proof that she's gone evil."

Billie then pointed at the table and the present she got Paige sat there. The round blue crystal that was enchanted to show Paige how in tune she was with her powers wasn't glowing with the bright blue and white lights it had when given to her. The crystal was radiating a dark violet and pure black light.

"Maybe we should call the sisters after all," Billie said.

"Not after the threat you said Piper would issue me with," Henry retorted. "Take me with you. I need to prove to Paige that I can help her without powers. I feel like our relationship won't survive with the path that we're taking right now. Let me help, Billie."

Billie couldn't say "no" now. Not after Henry's concern of their marriage splitting up. Especially with a new baby on the way. _Does he even know?_ Billie thought to herself and found it safer not even to mention it. "Fine. I just hope you don't go and get yourself killed."

**(X)**

"And that concludes how the Spirit Killers operate," Avo said as he walked into the next cave with his arm interlocked with Paige's.

"You would think with such organization, there'd be less Whitelighters in the world. It's as you've said, that for as long Whitelighters have existed, Darklighters were created to be that parallel force of Evil. Future Whitelighters depend on the aid of magical beings to help ensure their safety from Darklighters, so why is it that beings that have actual power can't kill powerless mortals without being killed themselves?" Paige questioned as they viewed their surroundings of the Savant Circle.

"Because of Whitelighters such as yourself, for one," Avo said, "Or at least when you used to be one. There are others who can't exactly combat quite like yourself, but have the power of influential speaking, which is enough to help fight through the self-destructive ways my Spirit Killers plant in the heads of future Whitelighters. Now, take in your surroundings as I educate you about the Savants."

Paige did as she was instructed and looked around the Savant Circle. There were five Savants, like the one Avo saw earlier and were all clad in faded black robes and held similar tribal markings as Avo. In the center was a large cauldron with a purple liquid brewing with the occasional rise of crimson bubbles. On the walls were crossbows that the Savants only used for emergencies and blades for ceremonial purposes.

"Savants," Avo called out, ceasing them in the process of making the Darklighter infection, checking their scrolls for healing appointments, counting magical tokens, and making the poison to kill Whitelighters.

Despite their old age, they got on one knee, knowing its appropriateness to their leader.

"Rise," he ordered and they followed their command. "This young woman right here is Paige. We're showing her how we operate down here."

"Are you impressed so far?" A Savant asked, understanding that Paige must be of importance to have the honor to walk along Avo.

"So far? I've been told this is where the yellow brick road comes to a halt," she said with crossed arms, having dematerialized her crossbow several caves back.

"That is correct," the same Savant responded, "This is in fact the last circle of the Darklighter Realm."

"Okay, so we've exchanged pleasantries," Paige sharply turned to Avo, "Do we go and punish the Innocent now?"

"Not yet," Avo answered. "You've yet to discover what the Savants do. This isn't something that could be ignored like you did with the Trackers."

Paige thought back to how a few minutes ago she simply eyed the Darklighter breed of Trackers and moved onto the next cave. "Fine. Educate me."

"The Savants play an essential role to the Darklighter race, being the few wise ones that tap into power that the others envy," Avo started off. "I possess this power of healing as well, but rarely use it. These Savants use their powers to heal powerful allies that don't want to go to Witch Doctors or Demonic Healers for those forms of services. We don't like to spread the word about these Savants at the risk of them dying. They're high up on the Darklighter Hierarchy."

"Tell me now, Avo," Paige asked in a seductive tone. "Do I have authority over these Darklighter grandpas?"

"You will," Avo answered. "Once we rid you of any good."

"Let me guess," Paige said, placing her palms against her soft black top, "I have to kill someone to get the stench of good off of me…am I hot or cold? And I mean that in regards to my guess, not looks." Paige grinned as she began to gallivant around the cave, hoping Avo was paying attention to her figure.

"Not just one. Several. It's a transition and the more you crave harm upon Whitelighters, the better. Since there are still some hidden remnants of good upon you that means you still have a connection with your charges. Ready to punish the Innocent?" Avo asked.

"How about people I've helped as well?" Paige asked. "If so I know just the perfect future Whitelighter to start off…"

**(X) **

"Got her again," Billie said with her laptop resting on her lap using her GPS system to track Paige. "It's been blinking on and off, so I'm guessing she's been in some cloaked areas, but she's on our surface now."

"I don't understand why we didn't just immediately go to her when you got a signal," Henry said as he stocked some potions into a black pouch after memorizing their purposes. "You've been down there before!"

"She was in the Underworld. I needed the help of the sisters last time we were down there and we were saving your ass from your power trip experience. You don't even have powers now, so I took the approach of staying alive!" Billie argued back. She stood up, closed the laptop, and placed it on the chair she was sitting on.

"Hold on," Henry said rubbing his forehead. "You have your laptop hooked up to the Underworld?"

"Yes!" The witch shouted. "Why does everyone get so shocked when they hear that? It's not as if there was a manual to making my program, but people hardly challenge that, but once they hear 'Underworld' it's a whole new story. If you'd like, I can explain the mechanics of how I did it or we can save your wife."

"Let's save Paige now and save that story for a rainy day," Henry said as he tossed one pouch to Billie and walked over to her.

Billie hung the pouch over her shoulder after pulling out one potion. Standing across from Henry, who had some potions of his own in his possession, she dropped the potion at their feet. The vial shattered and a large cloud of smoke consumed them, teleporting them to Paige.

**(X)**

Purple and black orbs descended onto the ground and revealed a terrified John. He looked around searching for an explanation as to how he just appeared in an alley. "How did I get here from home?" John muttered. He stood up and began to run only for a new set of black orbs to descend in front of him, revealing Paige.

"Howdy," she greeted as she threw her forearm into his face, knocking him to the ground. Her heeled boots seemed to echo through the air as her hair blew behind her from the San Francisco breeze. Paige was cold earlier in the day, but the intenseness of getting her first kill kept her warm.

"So…" the Dark Witchlighter started, "Ready to meet your maker and see the white light?" Paige held her hands out before her and the loaded crossbow appeared in her hands in a black cloud.

"Don't," John pleaded as he began to crawl backwards as Paige closed in on him.

"Yeah," another voice said. "Don't do it, Paige."

Paige didn't even turn around, but instead lowered her crossbow to her side. "Oh, Billie. I knew it was only time until you came by to steal the spotlight." Paige now turned around to find Henry standing beside Billie with a different potion in each hand. "Henry...I'll consider you the element of surprise."

"Just let us save you, Paige." Henry held up a potion. "We have a potion right here. It can cure you."

"Henry, I didn't want your help earlier, what makes you think I want it now?" Paige sniped. "Billie, I suggest you two go into hiding fast."

"Not going to happen," Billie said as she pulled out a potion from her potions pouch. She launched the potion at Paige.

Paige pressed the trigger of the crossbow and released an arrow that had great precise as it collided with the potion, preventing it from reaching her.

Sapphire flames appeared beside Paige and when they dropped, Rose had a grin spread across her face. "Finally, I get some action." Rose held out her hand and a stream of sapphire flames soared through the air and Billie telekinetically reversed it.

Paige orbed the flames to the wall, resulting in a scorch mark on the building. "Handle them until I'm done with him." Paige turned back around to John and aimed the crossbow at him.

Rose and Billie charged at each other and engaged in hand to hand combat. Billie lifted her leg up for a kick to chin, but Rose carefully bounced back avoiding the blow. Rose delivered a kick of her own to Billie's stomach and Billie bent over. Rose then slammed her elbow into Billie's back and the witch dropped to the ground.

"This was a little more fun than the last witch," Rose said as she conjured a blue fireball. She raised her hand into the air, "It's been nice knowing you these past couple of minutes." Rose halted as she heard footsteps and turned around to find Henry charging at her.

Henry almost stopped when he saw her about to throw the fireball at him, but dived through the air and tackled her to the ground. The fireball flew into the air and exploded when it collided with the ground. Henry hopped on top of Rose and swung his fist into her face.

Henry was still sitting on her and asked her, "You are a demon, right?"

A kick then collided with Henry's rib cage and sent him flipping off of Rose and beside Billie. Avo stood there and sharply turned to Paige, "End it!"

Paige released the arrow after taunting John for a while and the arrow drove through his heart, instantly killing him. "That felt good," she said. She then turned to Avo. "Do I do good work or what?"

"Why don't you finish these two off?" Avo requested.

Paige spotted that Billie was getting up and quickly released another arrow. The arrow bolted off of the crossbow and directly into Billie's leg, forcing her to the ground again with a scream.

"Surely your aim could've been better," Avo commented.

"If I would've aimed at her head like I originally wanted," Paige started as she lowered the crossbow. "There would've been no fun in taking the time to kill her."

Henry stood up holding his rib cage, "Paige. Don't do this! This isn't who you are!"

"Why should I leave it you to tell me who I am, Henry? Come on, you must know me so well after being married to me for a few months. You must know me inside out from my inner desires as well as what I like to do with the little spare time I have," Paige argued. "You don't know a damn thing about me."

With that, Paige shot another arrow that had materialized directly into the crossbow. Henry quickly dropped a mortal enabled transportation potion to the ground and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"I didn't know I was married to Houdini," Paige said as she looked around waiting for Henry to pop up somewhere. "I was married to a fraud, I just might have to get this marriage annulled."

"Hey!" Billie shouted with the arrow in her hand and a bleeding leg. "You can't have possibly thought that was going to keep me down."

"I hate you already," Rose said and launched a fireball that spun rapidly at Billie.

Billie held up her hand and deflected the fireball, but Paige continued to orb it back and the two repeated the cycle. The fireball was covered in purple and black orbs that kept going back and forth between the opponents. As it was Billie's turn to deflect it back, she realized the fireball was gone from sight.

"It got tiring, didn't it?" Billie said with a smirk, assuming Paige orbed it away from the both of them. "It's time I change you back to your natural state." Billie placed her fingers on her temples, prepared to tap into her projection power to break the spell of evil as she once had done to all three Charmed Ones.

The fireball appeared behind Billie, launched out of orbs and blasted her in the back. She flipped forward and slammed on the ground in front of Paige's feet with blood pouring out of her mouth.

Paige didn't bother aiming the crossbow as it was impossible to miss and just held it in one hand like a gun pointed at Billie's head. "Tell the big guy living amongst the clouds I said 'Hello' for me," she joked as her finger was pushing back the trigger.

Shatter.

Paige felt an odd rush of good run up her body and cleared her head of all negative thoughts. She remained in the same attire, but was no longer evil. She saw Avo and Rose standing beside her and she quickly hit Avo with the crossbow in the side of his head. Avo stumbled back.

"You bitch!" The words left his mouth in disgust to Paige's true behavior.

Sensing danger, Paige orbed out of her spot and avoided a fireball of Rose's that crashed against Avo's chest sending him flying into the wall and collapsing to the floor. Paige orbed back in behind Rose and swung a kick, hoping to damage her with her heeled boot.

With amazing reflex, Rose caught Paige's foot as she turned around just in time and tripped her to the ground. "I saw that coming." Rose commented, hinting at her clairvoyant abilities. She held back her hand to launch a stream of fire at Paige until a right hook met her jaw.

Henry saved Paige's life again. First he banished the evil out of her with Billie's potion and now prevented her from being incinerated by Rose. He threw another punch her way and Rose vanished in Avo's black and purple orbs.

Paige looked around in search for Avo, but he was already gone.

Henry pointed at Billie who was bleeding. "Hurry and heal her."

Paige crawled across the ground and held her hands over her friend's back. Gold light emanated as she tapped into her healing powers and did just that. While healing, she turned to Henry, "I actually thought we were going to die. We're lucky we made it out of this."

"Are you mad at me for coming to help in the fight?" Henry asked, looking at his wife who had her attention directed at Billie.

"A little," Paige admitted as her hands continued to shower Billie with healing lights. "You're right though, it's time I face reality that you need to know how to help me. I'm actually surprised that you didn't get Piper and Phoebe."

"It looks like we do know each other after all," Henry said, in reference to what Darklighter Paige said. "Billie told me she wanted to do it alone, but we decided I would tag along instead."

Paige didn't respond and just stared down at Billie. "She's not healing as fast as she should be."

"Uh…don't you have some extra power to tap into or something? Maybe a spell?" Henry suggested, doing his best to show he has some understanding.

_I'm supposedly pregnant. Wyatt healed Piper from inside the womb, so why can't I tap into my child's power if I'm truly pregnant? _Paige closed her hands and opened them again, this time her fingers were spread and her healing power was amplified. One hand was giving off a bolder light than the other, but Billie was now moving. "It's working," Paige smiled.

**(X)**

The music in P3 was banging as people ignored their troubles over drinks and dancing; all except Paige. She sat beside Henry in a V.I.P corner across from Phoebe and Coop. Paige had already given her sisters and Coop the story about the events of the day. Billie stood back at the house resting and Piper just walked back over to her family.

"There should be no more interruptions," Piper hoped. "So, Phoebe. Tell us what else are we cheering for besides Henry being a hero today."

Henry blushed and Paige playfully knocked shoulders with him. "Back to Phoebe, please!" Henry requested with his boyish grin.

The Halliwell sisters and Coop laughed. In the midst of laughing, Coop and Phoebe stood up holding hands.

"Out with it, Phoebe," Paige said with a smile. "Engaged or pregnant? Maybe both?"

"Engaged," Phoebe let out with a squeal following. With that, she lifted her hand to reveal a ring similar to Coop's except with a diamond over it.

"Custom made," Coop joked. "It's actually an old ring of mine. As my experience as a cupid grew, I had reached some magical potential and grew out of the ring itself. I always kept it as my first ring and now Phoebe has it."

"Congrats, sis," Piper said as she hugged her. "We better start planning. You also got to call Leo and give him the news yourself. I'm sure he could use some good news while Wyatt tears up the house."

Paige then turned to Henry, "I actually got some news I have to share with you." Paige stood up and held out her hand until Henry took it. Her husband assumed they were moving to another table, but Paige began to lead him outside the club.

**(X)**

Two columns of orb appeared on the top pillar of Golden Gate Bridge. The orbs revealed Paige and Henry who instantly felt the chill of the night. Paige broke off from Henry and rubbed her cold bare arms, hoping to gain a sense of warmth. Henry moved back over to her and embraced her.

"Is this good news or bad news, Paige?" Henry asked. "This is without a doubt our spot. I'm sure that if you could've explained how we magically got up here when you were confessing your witch secret, that would've happened here as well."

"Earlier today, I went to go and see a charge of mine. She gave me a heads up on a few things, but this one is really important. She foresaw us with a baby and there appeared to be some doubt in keeping him. I need to know that you're open to a child because there's no way I want to even have the thought of giving my child up because we're not ready," Paige said, nearly in tears.

"Paige," Henry started. "I'm open to children. We'll make good decisions when the time comes, I promise."

Paige backed away a little and stared at the metallic floor beneath her. "The time has come, Henry." Paige looked up, gave him a half smile and the words finally left her mouth. "I'm pregnant."

**End of Chapter**

**A/Note: **I hope you guys enjoyed this rather lengthy chapter. Please review. The next chapter is pretty long as well, with action packed and a huge revelation. Also, here's a teaser: Something will change Paige's life and I'll tell you know, you're not thinking it. No one will guess it.

Also, we had two new charges. **Evelyn Wendell** and **John Waverman** were created by Charmed-Net's Brando and Extremus Witch, respectively. Basic info was given and I stretched them out a bit. One more than the other though.

Finally. **Credit** to C-Net's SinGenSenSation (Melissa) for the crystal ball spell. That'll be all.


	9. Survivor: Magic School

**Chapter 9- Survivor: Magic School**

**A/Note: This chapter is pretty damn long, but I'm also pretty damn proud of how it turned out. If you think so as well, leave a pretty damn good review. :)**

**I hope you enjoy and please try to leave a nice constructive review if possible with the parts you enjoyed and even speculate along the way. Thanks.**

_**September 30th, 2006**_

Morning in the attic of Halliwell Manor was busy as Piper bottled her famous explosive potions. After they were all corked, she moved over to a table that had four black one-strap potion pouches and equally stocked the purple potions. For this battle, she needed to be comfortable to move around and Piper was more than that in a brown suede jacket, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Phoebe walked in with Billie right behind.

"Billie, why on earth are you wearing that?" Piper asked as she spotted Billie's attire.

The witch had on a black sports bra with matching tights. Around her arms were black bracelets and a leather band around her wrist. "What? They're from my super chick days. They're really easy to move around in as well as blend with demons."

"I'm not going to argue on your fashion sense," Piper finally said after glaring at the witch up and down for a few seconds. "How did the potions go downstairs?"

"Well done," Phoebe said pulling one blue potion out of her pocket. "There's a few more downstairs but they are for dire emergencies."

The potions Phoebe and Billie were brewing in the kitchen were the same ones they used against each other in the Ultimate Battle. They were labeled as 'Atomic Potions' as it seemed appropriate since it displayed powerful explosions when collided with something.

"Okay, so we'll all take a couple. Any idea when Paige is getting back?" The eldest asked as she finished stocking the potions and slung one pouch over her shoulder.

"She's had quite a few charges and getting them to help us out is important. We don't have the full approval of the magical community as some still don't like us, some don't like Billie and some don't like us working_ with _Billie," Phoebe explained as she opened a drawer and pulled out two athamaes. "She should be here soon though."

"I think she's hesitant," Piper commented. "She's pregnant and doesn't want to risk getting herself hurt. Billie, you're living with her. How she's been doing?" Both Piper and Phoebe stopped to listen to what she had to say.

"She's actually been studying a lot about techniques we can use and has been practicing her powers daily. I think she's also doing it to keep her mind off of the guy she killed. Her orbing advancement is really coming along and she is also self-healing. Henry and I were wondering how she healed herself after she was hit with the Darklighter arrow and we came to that conclusion. She added all her new Darklighter knowledge to her Book," Billie explained.

"Would you say she's been a little too obsessed with magic? How have her and Henry been doing?" Phoebe asked.

"Honestly, I think you should take it up with her. I don't want to betray Paige in the sense that I'm spilling the beans of everything she's been up to," Billie admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, sweetie," Phoebe said with a comforting face. "We were just concerned about her, but you're right. We'll ask her some time today." Phoebe held out one of the two athamaes for Billie.

"No need," Billie said. She held out her own hand and a gold glow shone over her palm and an athamae appeared. "Paige has had me practice my projection power… Every day. She thinks that if I concentrate hard enough, I can help you guys amplify a protection spell."

"Magic School is enormous. You got the school and the outside grounds, it'll be a lot to cloak from evil," Piper warily said.

"Paige thinks I can and I trust her word," Billie said as she slid the athamae she conjured into the slit of her boot.

Paige then orbed in, clad in an aqua blue shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers. "Hey, guys."

"And there she goes," Phoebe chimed. "How did it go? Did you get in touch with all your charges?"

"I actually reached all of them. The only ones that aren't coming to fight are the future Whitelighters and Evelyn, the Oracle. I've given them all transport potions and instructed them how to use them. We should get there first though in case there are clans of demons they may not be able to fight off," Paige said as she picked up one of the stocked pouches and slid it on.

"I hope there isn't an army," Piper said. "The plan is to blow up some demons, a couple warlocks and we cast a spell to protect and cloak the school."

"There's definitely a chance of an army," Billie said. "We all know it, otherwise we wouldn't be packing all these potions."

Piper turned to Billie, "Speaking of those, can you go downstairs and get them?"

Billie nodded and left the attic.

"Phoebe, did you make the potion to summon the Witch Doctors after we're done so they can cleanse the school?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about that," Phoebe said as she picked up two vials of yellow potion. "Speaking of worrying…" she then placed the potions back on the table and looked at Paige, "How are you handling everything? We've seen you twice since you told us you were pregnant and that was for my engagement dinner and when you came to discuss our plan."

"I saw this coming." Paige said as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "Its just things I did when I was under the influence of evil that got to me. I nearly killed Billie, I killed a man who dedicated his life to good and I was too close to becoming your worst enemy."

"Come on, Paige, you wouldn't have been our worst enemy," Phoebe said to comfort her sister.

"You don't get it, Phoebe. I felt like I could do anything and I'm sure with more time, I would've learned more aggressive ways to use my powers. I don't even want to think of me killing you guys or how I killed that other guy," Paige said staring at the attic floor.

"Paige, you don't need us to tell you that when you were possessed by evil, it wasn't you," Piper assured her.

"You're wrong, Piper," Paige said now standing up, but not taking her eyes off of the floor. "I felt that I did have some allure to who I became and some of my feelings were true. There are times that I feel that I just don't know Henry and he doesn't know me and now I'm having his child."

"It's because of your duties that pull you away from him," Phoebe told her. "Being a Witchlighter takes up a lot of your time and you're doing the world a huge favor by aiding to these people. You know you love helping them, that goes without saying, but Henry is greatly ignored because of this."

"There's another huge benefit out of being pregnant," Piper said with a smile that Paige could finally see as she took her eyes off the floor. "Sabbatical. It goes without saying that you're not going to be running around fighting off Darklighters while you're pregnant. This will give you enough time to be at home with Henry and just learn more about each other."

"I haven't really thought about taking time off of my duties," Paige admitted. "Do you really think the Elders will just let me ignore the calls of charges?"

"You can't be expected to orb to a charge with a baby growing inside of you. I personally would love to hold this battle off until after you give birth as some serious magical blows are at risk, but there's no stopping you now. You're very stubborn, Matthews," Piper said with a grin on her face and a fist on her waist.

"I am self-healing after all," Paige grinned. "So are we ready to do this?" She eyed her sisters one by one. "We got to save this school for the children. I think I'd like my kid to go there one day."

"So let's save it," Phoebe declared. "For our future children." The witch smiled knowing that she may not be pregnant now, but knew she was destined to join her sisters in motherhood.

"Got the potions," Billie said at the door with a small sack in her hands. She carefully placed them on the table, knowing that if she dropped them, the potions would explode and tear apart the manor.

"I'm going to go downstairs and say goodbye to Henry," Paige said. "I suggest you two ladies do the same." Paige walked out of the attic and after hearing her sisters agree, she heard their footsteps follow behind her.

The sisters made their way down the steps and found Leo and Coop in the parlor. The boys were playing with toys beside them on the floor. Leo was browsing through the Halliwell Book of Shadows with Coop looking over his shoulder, occasionally glancing at the television.

"I guess my man is in the kitchen," Paige said with a sly smile and walked pass the dining room, through the archway and into the kitchen to find Henry standing in front of a cauldron with the Matthews Book of Shadows on the island beside him.

Henry turned when he heard footsteps and smiled at Paige. "You're back. How are you doing?"

"A little nervous," she admitted. "I just wanted to stop by and see you before we took off. What are you doing in here, mister?"

"I'm making a potion. You're the witch, you telling me you had to ask that?" Henry joked with his boyish grin.

"Yeah, I'm the witch, so why are _you_ making the potion? And what potion is that, if I may so ask?" Paige asked, hoping it wasn't anything that would blow him up if he made a mistake.

"Nothing serious, just one of your simple potions. It's just a potion you have that is listed to turn you hair red. I found that the specifics were strange, but it looked simple," Henry explained, clueless to the various hair colors Paige had gone through. "I figured I'd get some training so I can start coming with you for these battles."

Paige walked closer to Henry and tilted her head. "Thank you for doing this and we'll talk more about this when it's all over. I just want you to hang with the other guys as we gals go out and save the world… I love this millennium where women save the day."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay to do this? I'm sure your sisters and Billie can do it if you're not feeling up to it with the baby and all," Henry said, hoping she wouldn't go into this battle.

"The battle may not be that bad and we're the Charmed Ones. If we can lose a school, we can sure as hell make sure it finds it's way back to our side," Paige said as she wrapped her arms around his back. "I promise the baby and I will come home safe. He or she is going to keep me safe."

Henry rested his chin on Paige's head as he tightly embraced her. "I wish you would just let me come with you."

Paige began to back up and held his hands. "I love you simply because you're willing to engage in such a battle, but just trust in us and worry with the other guys."

Henry smiled and nodded. He wrapped his arm around Paige's shoulder and together they walked out of the kitchen and reached the parlor where they saw Piper kissing her children goodbye and Phoebe hugging Coop.

"Got a wrench to pry these guys apart?" The youngest Charmed One asked and looked up at her chuckling husband.

**(X)**

The Halliwell sisters orbed into the hallway that lead into the Great Hall and Billie appeared in a cloud of smoke that rose from the floor. They cautiously looked around and examined the hallway. Scorch marks from countless demonic attacks, the walls and doors had cracks all around and there was dry blood of fallen demons.

"So, are we going to take this as a good sign that there aren't any demons here?" Phoebe asked as she continued to look over her shoulder.

"Are you kidding me?" Piper then pointed at the door leading to the Great Hall. "As soon as we kick open that door, we're going to have fireballs coming at us like never before."

"I'm not kicking it open then," Billie said with crossed arms.

"This is actually one of those times when we're actually allowing you to play with demons and now you won't do it?" Piper questioned. "Living with Paige has made you soft."

"Hey!" The Witchlighter exclaimed. "Let's just all go in at once. If we see any demons, we regroup and get a proper mass vanquishing spell ready."

Billie held up her fist and began to knock on the air. "Should I knock?"

"I don't view demons as the type of people who are sure to keep their elbows on the table when they eat their victims, so let's cross out any sense of mannerism," Phoebe said with folded hands before her.

With that, Billie telekinetically pushed open the large brown doors that separated the Great Hall from the hallway and revealed that the grand room was empty. The Charmed Ones and Billie cautiously walked in and constantly looked over their shoulders. There were tables that were split down the middle, more scorch marks of past demon battles and unpolished weapons spread around the floor.

"Wait, hold on," Phoebe said with her hands bouncing before her. "Are you telling me there's not one demon?" The middle sister now had her index finger held up for all the other women to see.

"The point is they aren't here. They could be playing tag in the Underworld for all I care, so we should just cast the spell," Paige suggested.

Billie spotted an ax that appeared to be floating and turned a suspicious eye to it. "Guys, would you happen to know if any weapons were ever enchanted to float?"

"No, weapons we're always just meant to hang on the walls as relics from past battles that good succeeded in. They used to have plaques under the weapon telling who possessed the weapon, but since this place got trashed, there's no telling who the warrior was," Paige explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Mainly because there's a floating ax coming our way, but thanks for the history lesson," Billie quipped as she took a few steps back.

The sisters turned around to see the ax for themselves. Piper instantly threw up her hands, "Do we have a spell or am I blowing it up?"

"I hold no objections to blowing it up," Phoebe said, taking steps back.

Book cases, cracked frames and other items within the room shaped up and shaped down according to size to reveal Chameleon demons. The floating ax was no longer floating as one Chameleon revealed himself as he came out of cloak mode and charged at them.

Billie quickly threw her hands out before her and sent the Chameleon soaring through the air, while still wielding his ax. Piper quickly flicked her wrists and blew up his arms.

When the arms exploded, blasts of green blood shot out the ends of his arm sockets and the ax dropped to the marble floor. The Chameleon demon slammed against a bookcase and a shelf collapsed on top of him when he reached the floor.

Energy balls flew their way and Paige and Billie deflected them as Piper blew them up. Phoebe ran over to two Chameleons finding her place in the battle and engaged in physical combat.

Paige turned to Piper to see an energy ball about to combust against her back and grabbed her by the shoulder and orbed out, dodging the magical attack. They orbed back in the hallway. "Piper, try and get Phoebe and Billie out of there. A spell is the only way to take them down, so I'm going to contact the guys and have them search through the Book of Shadows."

"When did you become the eldest sister?" Piper quipped.

"Piper, just go!" Paige responded.

Piper realized this was in fact a battle and she charged back into the Great Hall.

Paige pulled out an orange circular crystal that was enchanted to communicate with the men back at the manor to save time from orbing. She then spoke into it. "Guys, do you hear me?"

Henry's voice came out of the other end. "Yeah. Paige, what is it? Need help?"

"I need you to find me a vanquishing spell for Chameleon demons. Hurry because we have a load here right now," Paige said as she continued to watch in on the battle. Someone then tapped her shoulder and she turned around to find a demon grinning at her. "You should've killed me when you had the chance."

The Witchlighter dropped the crystal and began her defense. Paige ran her fist into his chin, elbowed him in the chest, twirled his arm over her shoulder and flipped him onto his back. She pulled out a potion from her pouch, threw it at him and backed away as he exploded.

She orbed the communication crystal back into her possession and asked, "Did you find it yet?" The sounds of heavy flipping were heard as the men were probably searching through both tomes.

"I found it!" Henry's voice shouted from the end of the crystal.

"Tell it to me," Paige said as she watched the battle.

**(X)**

A Chameleon demon drew his nails into Phoebe's bare arms and threw her, watching as she slammed against the wall. Phoebe got up with a hand on her back and charged at the demon. The Charmed One grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat, fell onto her back and used her leg as leverage to flip the demon onto his back. The sound of Paige chanting distracted a now standing Phoebe as the Chameleon jumped back to his feet and tightened his arms around Phoebe, suffocating her with his demonic strength.

_Evil hiding in my sight,_

_I use this spell with all my might,_

_To stop your changing form and shape,_

_This vanquish seals your fate!_

The Chameleon demon wrapped around Phoebe blew up and his green blood splattered all over her. All the other Chameleon demons combusted as well and Piper and Billie took cover on the floor to avoid the shower of blood. The Great Hall now had the blood of an entire clan of Chameleons spread on the walls and floor.

"I took them down. Thanks, honey," Paige said and then tucked the crystal into her pocket. "How are you guys doing?"

"I'm wearing demon aftermath…" Phoebe answered. "How do you think I'm doing?"

Piper and Billie both stood up from the floor with only small amounts of blood on them. "You'll shower when you get home. Let's just see if we can find any other demonic critters," the eldest told her sister.

"I can't go home and shower?" Phoebe asked as she made her best attempt to wipe the blood off of herself.

"No, but this might be one of those times when you _want_ to fight a Water Demon," Piper responded.

Explosions from two opposite ends of the hall were heard and Paige shrugged her shoulders. "I guess this is the part where we split up. I'll take Piper and Billie will stick with Bloody Phoebe there. If worst comes to worst, I'll orb out with Piper and Billie can use her potions for you two."

"Did I forget to mention that Coop's ring is a little more than just flashy jewelry? There is still some power in it so I can very well teleport myself," Phoebe informed. She noticed her ring had the slime-like blood on it. "Billie, you're going to have to project some water or a bathtub or something..." her voice trailed as the two walked off.

Paige and Piper walked to the other. Piper opened one large door as Paige opened the other.

"So is there any other reason you wanted me to come with you besides me being able to blow up the bad guys?" Piper asked, smiling. She continued to look on searching for the source of the previous explosion.

"I was hoping for some advice on how you handled being pregnant. I remember it freaking you out to the point where you placed a fearless spell on yourself," Paige reminded.

"Not one of my highlight moments," Piper admitted with a chuckle. "I can help with this. To remain on the subject of fear, what scares you most with being pregnant?"

"Uh, let's see… There's the whole thing about having someone put their life into my hands. I grew up and raised myself not to be so dependent on others. I regret being that way with my parents for reasons you're aware of, but for as long as I can remember, I'm used to just generally pushing away help. Since it went ignored, I can't go back and remember how to put that protection on someone else," she explained as she placed her hands on her stomach.

"Paige, that's ridiculous. Wyatt and Chris have depended on you so many times. I've depended on you whenever I entrusted the life of my children into your hands. I've entrusted my own life into you whenever we're out on Charmed duty. Maybe you've learned to be more dependable in your time with us," Piper figured.

The sisters turned the corner and spotted a witch being stabbed by a Brute demon with an athamae. He pulled the athamae out of her chest and she dropped to the floor, lifeless. He grinned at the athamae and smelled the blood of his victim. He began to move the bloody blade to his tongue to taste victory and it vanished in a bright blue light accompanied with dancing white orbs.

He looked up to see the source of the teleporting athamae and Paige was waving the athamae. "Lost this?"

He charged at them and his brown sleeveless jacket was flying behind him like a cape. His large open hands were outstretched before him as he was prepared to crush their skulls. He saw Piper put her hands out before her and seconds after, he felt a sharp pain collide with his chest that sent him soaring backwards and slamming against the wall, breaking the plaster. A series of more blasts collided with his chest from Piper's end until he finally blew up.

"Nice job, sis. Those Brutes normally need custom potions to take them down." Paige stated.

"My power doesn't apply with those rules," Piper smirked.

Vilo then shimmered in. The telepathic ally of Avo first looked at the floor and saw one witch who looked to have her skull crushed in and another that was bleeding from her stomach. He then looked up at the two Charmed Ones. With his free hand, he blasted Piper and sent her slamming into a wall where an old bronze shield fell on top of her, knocking her out.

"_Damn it. I forgot he was an accomplished telepath,"_ Paige thought.

"You're damn right I am," Vilo snarled.

"Oh yeah. No point thinking, is there?" Paige said as an energy ball courtesy of Vilo came her way. She latched onto her sister's shoulder and their orbs shot up as the energy ball phased through.

**(X)**

"Billie, watch out!" Phoebe shouted as soon as she spotted a fireball flying towards her head.

Billie was clueless as to where the attack was coming from, but just dropped to her knees and covered her head with her arms. The fireball zoomed over her head and melted a hole into the wall. She looked up after she felt the heat wave pass her. "That heat is unbearable."

Phoebe ran over to Billie and helped her up to her feet. They faced their opponents, which were firestarters that were serving Avo since there wasn't a current Source of All Evil. They simply respected Avo's power enough to serve him. Their bodies looked to be of molten flames having embraced their firestarting powers to the fullest. There were three that stood by each other.

"They definitely look like they might require the Power of Three," Phoebe speculated.

Three fireballs began to form in front of the three firestarters and were building at an incredible speed. They began to fly towards the girls and Billie quickly dropped a potion in between them. Smoke began to swallow them until the fire reached them and blasted them out of it. The witches crashed through the doors leading into the Great Hall, landed onto the floor and slid back.

"Whoa… Hot… Hot!" Phoebe breathed in-between coughs, while also enduring the pain of the crash. Lucky for the two, the doors were already weak, as if they weren't, the witches would've been dead before they hit the floor.

They turned to their side and saw another battle at large. The opponents were a pack of demons were launching energy balls at a group of three men and one woman. The alpha of the small group had brushed up blonde hair with a sleeveless leather vest with black jeans to match. Around his wrists were gray leather bands and attached to his belt were two sai daggers.

An energy ball flew his way and he quickly leaped up, conjured an energy ball while he spun through the air, launched it at the demon and vanquished him. He then landed on the floor.

"Wow, did you see that?" Billie asked Phoebe.

Phoebe turned back to the door and saw the firestarters walk in. "Get your eyes off the hopping demon and look at these guys!" Both women were now staring at the firestarters and Billie jumped to her feet. "Bounce back their attacks, Billie."

The last time Billie did this was when she incinerated her sister in self-defense. She didn't hesitate to kill her, so why wouldn't she do the same now? An empowered fireball came her way and Billie threw out her hands, her fingers shaking nervously as she feared she wouldn't succeed. The fireball was blown back by Billie's telekinetic power and slammed into the firestarter devouring him in his own flames.

"Two more," Phoebe reminded before Billie got excited over her vanquish. Two more fireballs flew towards Billie and Phoebe and they didn't have enough time to react. Death was scorching towards them. One hand clutched a shoulder of each of the witches and they vanished from the Great Hall.

**(X)**

A buzzing sound entered a multi-subject classroom of Magic School and a cloud of black particles were seen entering through the ajar door. The particles began to split apart and the buzzing sound died down as Billie and Phoebe shot each other a look, unaware of the blond man behind them.

"Whoa, was that your ring?" Billie asked Phoebe.

"It was me." The girls turned to find the jumping-energy ball-lobbing blond. "I'm Cameron Hawke."

"Billie Jenkins!" She quickly exclaimed. "Wait. Are you a demon?" She hoped not. His piercing gray eyes struck out to her as well as his muscular body. He was also an impressive fighter from what she caught back in the Great Hall.

"Look, you didn't destroy the firestarter. You need to understand that right away," he informed and ignored Billie's question.

"I knew it. We need the Power of Three," Phoebe said. "We need to regroup with Piper and Paige and cast a spell…"

"No, you don't get it," Cameron cut in. "Firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire. One strategy I would suggest would be using their fire against their partners. It's only their own fire they're immune to. Or just try some massive freeze spell, I have to get back." Cameron then turned on his heel, bursting into a twister of black particles that flew out the old classroom.

Phoebe spotted the blank look on Billie's face. "If firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire, that must mean that…"

"Christy is still alive," Billie continued.

**(X)**

Paige lied Piper down on an old student's bed and began to heal her. She placed her hands over an open wound on Piper's head and watched as the gold light magically closed it. Piper jumped up and choked on her breath.

"Calm down, you're okay," Paige assured. "We should really find Phoebe and Billie because this is going to get nasty fast."

"I'm assuming that's the telepathic demon you told us about. We should use the atomic potions on him, Avo and Rose. As long as we hit them, they should die," Piper said.

"Wow. Did you think of that plan while knocked out? You seemed eager to spill it," Paige joked. She took a hold of Piper's hand and white lights consumed them and they vanished.

Vilo shimmered in and growled, missing his targets by seconds.

**(X)**

Paige and Piper orbed into the classroom Phoebe and Billie were in. They instantly saw Phoebe still had some detections of Chameleon blood on her, but both ladies also had scorched shirts and pants, with cuts along their bodies.

"What happened to you guys?" Piper asked.

Phoebe turned to Billie who was still quiet. The Charmed One knew her friend was still frozen from her new discovery. Billie just stared at a wall. "We were battling some firestarters and discovered something new."

"What? Are they working for a new Source or something?" Paige questioned, worried.

"No, they're probably working with Avo. Billie incinerated one and this guy…"

"What guy?" Piper interrupted.

"Probably a demon or something. The point is that he told us that firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire, only by others," Phoebe said, meekly.

Piper's eyes widened as Paige placed her hand over her own mouth. Together in the same second, they turned to Billie and stared at her.

"Oh, my God," Paige mumbled behind her hand.

Billie finally turned to the sisters and they just waited to see what she had to say. "Christy's alive and out there somewhere…"

"Wait a second. If Christy is in fact still alive, how come Leo was returned to me?" Piper asked. "We had to destroy your shared power and when you _killed_ her, the battle was over. It doesn't make sense. I don't think you should get your hopes up."

"Piper!" Phoebe interjected.

All eyes were now on Piper. Phoebe was shocked, Paige was curious to hear what she had to say and Billie was offended.

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe the rules don't apply because Christy was half witch. Maybe when her fireball hit her, it actually got her for good," Piper said with regret when she saw how disgusted Billie was looking.

Billie began to shake her head back and forth. "I believe there is still a chance that Christy is out there. I don't know if she's good or evil, but I have to find her, don't I?"

"There's a battle going on out there, guys," Phoebe reminded. "We have to get back out there."

"I have to find Christy," Billie said.

"Billie, no!" Paige shouted. "I will do everything I can to help out with this Christy business after we claim this school back. We'll have all these books at our resources, let's just go do what we came to do now." Her cheeks were a rosier red from the shouting and glared at Billie.

"Fine," she responded meekly. "You promise you'll help me, right?"

"Witch's honor," Paige promised with her hand in the air and middle and index finger pressed together. "Now let's get back out there. We got our telepathic demon chasing us. He was on our tail before. I'm guessing that that he sensed all of us together."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Piper scoffed. She then turned towards Phoebe and Billie, "Our plan is to use the atomic potions on them."

Paige then tapped her pocket. "I still personally have my Avo vanquishing potion with me. I think we're set to go again."

Phoebe opened the door and the four women peaked out and saw a clear hallway. They stepped out and heard an ongoing battle in the Great Hall. They stood before the doors like they had earlier in the day.

"We don't have the luxury of being hesitant anymore," Piper commented. "Let's end this." Piper was suddenly flung into the wall on the left. Phoebe was thrown to the wall on the right and crashed to the floor.

Paige and Billie turned around to find Vilo with his hand raised. He waved his hand to the left and Billie flew on top of Piper on the floor. Paige lifted her hand to attack, but Vilo was too fast for her. For one last time, he tapped into Billie's power of telekinesis and threw his arm forward. Paige was telekinetically thrown into the doors, pushing them open and landing into the Great Hall.

Paige looked up to find Rose maniacally laughing as she burned witches that charged at her with her intense sapphire flames.

One witch's head shot upwards as the flames began to consume her body. After the flames entombed her, a short explosion followed after and the flames died down… Paige never saw the witch again.

Rose then spotted Paige and instantly sent a stream of fire towards her. Paige rolled out of the way, but felt the intense heat as it passed by her and crashed against a bookcase, lighting it on fire. Paige stared at the burning oak bookcase as the flames didn't seem to hesitate on consuming it completely.

Columns of orbs began to descend from the middle of the air. Whitelighters appeared to help aid their charges, but they were already incinerated by Rose's fury. They stared at her, confused as to what their next move should be. A purple mist then spread around the Great Hall and the Whitelighters stared at it, curious.

"What is it?" One female Whitelighter asked. The purple mist then reached her and she began to choke. Her veins began to bulge through her pale skin with a dark shade to it. Her once rosy cheeks changed to a purple hue and former blue eyes were now pitch black. She grabbed her own throat, trying to close off her own oxygen, hoping no more of this poisonous mist would take over any further… It was too late. She dropped to the floor as the poison robbed her from her second life.

The same happened with all the other Whitelighters. Paige began to cough as the mist didn't seem to take the full effect on her as the others. She turned to find Avo with his hands raised and the mist flowing out the center of his palms. He lowered them once he saw that his targets were dead… All but Paige.

"Paige," he started as he walked towards her with his hands behind his back. "You didn't want to die with the others?"

"What is that?" Paige asked as she picked herself up.

"Well, you educated me in pretty much everything there is to know about Whitelighters as I educated you about Darklighters. I took it upon myself to make a new poison for Whitelighters. I guess your witch side helps defend you from the full effects," he guessed. "No worries." He held out his hands and his crossbow appeared. He instantly shot an arrow at Paige.

Paige's eyes widened. She knew his arrows were faster than that of any other Darklighters since he personally added velocity to them with his own power. If worst came to worst, her unborn child would heal her.

Someone then grabbed onto her and all she saw were flashes of blue and silver lights. She felt her hair blowing for a couple seconds until she met an abrupt halt. When all was still again, she saw that she was in the arms of her first charge after her father, Mitchell Haines.

Mitchell looked down at her and placed her back on her feet. His brown hair was darker than before and blown back, probably from all the running he must've been doing. He had on a gray short sleeve shirt with black wind-breakers. His aqua eyes were fixed on Paige's light brown eyes and he grinned. "I saw you needed a quick escape."

"Thanks a lot, Speedy," she joked. "I'm definitely glad to see you were able to make it. And I meant the battle, not just saving me."

"My fiancé understands why I have to do this. She may not be a witch, but understands that I have a higher calling with my powers," the hyper-speeding witch explained.

"I have to say again, that I'm glad to hear that you haven't been _running_ from love. I know it wasn't easy for you to put Jennifer's death behind you. I'm sure you'll always have some love for her, but I'm glad to know you've opened up to someone else," Paige said with a smile. "But we should really get back out there."

"I'll email you the specifics of the wedding soon," Mitchell said. "I should get running."

"Keep doing what you're doing and thanks again," Paige said with a smile that she was surprised to find at a time like this.

"Back at you," Mitchell replied before vanishing from sight in a matter of seconds.

Paige without aiming to waste another second, called on her power to orb. She just stood there as her power wasn't activating, until seconds later she orbed out. She orbed back into the Great Hall to find the poisonous mist rid from the room. She didn't even have time to register what went wrong with her power as Billie was engaged and losing in hand-to-hand combat with Rose. Piper and Phoebe together were fighting off Vilo, while Avo was nowhere to be found.

Battle wasn't the only activity occurring in the Great Hall. Trails of fire, both sapphire and blazing orange were lighting up the room in different corners. A 'freeze and move' combo by Billie and Piper finally vanquished the firestarters. Paige pulled out an atomic potion and yelled out to Piper and Phoebe, "Piper, Phoebe! Get out of the way!"

Paige held her arm back, ready to launch as Piper and Phoebe dived out of the way. The potion flew of her hand and soared through the air at Vilo. The telepathic demon held up his hand and tapped into Piper's power and froze it.

The demon smiled and grabbed the frozen potion from out of the air. He sneered at the witches and looked past them at Rose. The demonic witch had her hands wrapped around Billie's throat and threw her over a table, knocking her out. Rose turned around and saw Phoebe and Piper on the floor, hurt from their dive.

Vilo waved the potion back and forth at the fallen witches. "Oh, how the tables have turned. You should've never tried to come up here. Should've stayed back on your mortal grounds and lived the normal lives you so coveted."

Paige then ran to her sisters as fast as she could. She quickly placed her hands on their shoulders and began to charge her orb as Vilo continued to taunt with them with the potion.

Piper's eyes narrowed as she held up her hands. "Son of a bitch!" The Charmed One flicked her wrists and her blast collided with the potion.

The shattered glass freed a rapid release of destructive power. The explosion seemed to amplify within a matter of seconds and grew to look like an enormous fireball. The destructive blast flew towards the Charmed Ones as well as Vilo. Paige's orb never took off and the blast smacked into the witches, lifted them off of the marble floor and sent them soaring backwards roughly ten feet. Piper crashed through an oak table and Paige and Phoebe landed on opposite sides. Vilo wasn't fortunate enough to survive the blast as it picked him up as well, but incinerated him before he could reach the floor. The blast quickly dissipated upon attacking.

Rose looked around in shock. The most powerful witches of all time were laid out before her and her ally was vanquished. She would make Avo proud by killing Piper and Phoebe and leaving Paige for him. There was one way where she enjoyed killing; her firepower. She didn't like having to rely on a weapon that could be easily knocked out of her hands or having to use a spell that could either backfire or fail on her. Everyone was knocked out, so no one would be able to stop her from incinerating two-thirds of the Power of Three.

"Farewell," she breathed as she stared at the air before her. A fireball materialized and the demonic witch continued to add power to it. Once she felt it was a reasonable size to allow her to torch the witches, she stopped. She then thrust her hands forward to add speed to the fireball and it sped towards Piper and Phoebe…

"Water!" Billie shouted with her hands on her temples. The fireball quickly morphed into a large sphere of water that soaked the witches. She hoped that it would too wake them up, but she was glad to have just saved them in the end. She shifted her attention to Rose, who looked beyond furious.

"You bitch," she simply said to the blonde witch. "You have this annoying habit of intervening." Sapphire flames began to run up Rose's arms as she gritted her teeth in frustration and anger.

"I'm not going to let you burn my friends," Billie boldly said. She knew Rose continued to outweigh her in the battles they've had. She had an open cut on her forehead to prove it. It didn't matter though. She knew she was ready to die for the sisters. She was a cocky witch in her earlier days, but they taught her to replace that with courage. Billie tended to play around with the idea, charging into lower level battles being arrogant, but against the greater forces she would recognize the danger involved and would think twice.

"I'll witch-ka-bob them after I'm done with you. You've been such a nuisance and it's a surprise to me that I didn't ignite your ass when I had the chance," Rose said as she straightened her arms forward and released the streams of fire.

Using her power of telekinesis, Billie lifted herself into the air to better execute a flip and landed in front of the demonic witch as soon as she stopped shredding the air with her flames. Billie ran her elbow into Rose's face, twisted her arm behind her back and held out her hand. An athamae flew out from the slit of her boot and she ran it into Rose's chest.

Rose let out a scream that ran chills all over Billie's body. Billie released her and telekinetically sent her flying out of her way. She smiled as Rose crashed against the wall, the athamae still inside of her chest.

The witch charged at the sisters and kneeled over them. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her right ear and just stared at them. For a few seconds, she heard a buzzing sound that soon passed.

"Summon a wood nymph," a voice said.

Billie turned to find Cameron Hawke again. "Why do you keep popping up from everywhere?"

"Look, we don't have time for these questions. Just cast a spell to summon a wood nymph to heal them. They have the best availability to aid right now as Whitelighters are dying all around. We're going to have company in a couple of seconds."

"How do you…"

"Just do it! You're not going to get the school back without them!" Cameron looked around at all the fire and held up his right hand. The orange and sapphire flames slowly began to decrease until they were just small flickers of fire that the cold winds of Magic School blew out.

Billie wanted to ask how he did it, but he would just silence her again. She wanted to trust this guy as well, but ever since Christy, trust had become an issue with her. She shook her head at the thought of Christy and began to remember a spell she personally created for future use a while back.

_Protector of the forest, I summon thee,_

_You who protects the bushes, water and trees,_

_Aiding earth by helping flowers bloom without the sun's light,_

_I call on you to do something right!_

A gentle breeze passed as the silhouette of a wood nymph appeared in a mixture of dancing sage green and lilac lights. A wood nymph now stood before Billie, clad in a green dress with a wreath over her ears that had an assortment of lilies and white roses that kept down her long auburn hair. An expression of fear was spread across the face of the nurturer of the forest. She began to take a couple of steps back.

"Please, don't go anywhere. I promise I'm not trying to hurt you. I just need you to heal them," she explained as she pointed at them on the floor. "If not for me, then for all the times they saved you and your friends."

"Funny for you to say that," she responded. "You're the one that turned us against them! And now you're asking me for help? How do I know that you didn't do this yourself?"

"Why would I want you to save them?" Billie snapped back. Battle cries were heard coming from down the hall. "Please! Paige is pregnant and something must be wrong if her baby isn't healing her!"

The nymph gave in and pulled her necklace over her head and held it over Paige. The dangled jewel that held a drop of water from the Eternal Springs dripped onto Paige's forehead and revived her.

Paige's eyes widened as she saw her sisters knocked out. She jumped up, sparing no time on thanking the magical creature that saved her life. She kneeled back down on the floor, placing one hand over Phoebe and the other over Piper. The golden lights after a few seconds emanated from Paige's palms. Just like when she had healed Billie, one hand was shining brighter than the other allowing Piper to be healed before Phoebe. Paige stopped healing them as soon as she saw them wake up, still leaving them with cuts and bruises all around.

Together, the Charmed Ones stood up and saw a door blasted off its hinges, landing before Cameron. Avo was the source of the door flying off and began to walk in. A large variety of different demons and Darklighters began to charge in causing Avo to be lost within the crowd. They all stopped and refrained from attacking from Avo's command.

Avo walked out to the front with a grim expression. "You know this is the end for you, don't you? You're outnumbered. Paige, I certainly was prepared to engage into a more formidable battle with you, but my lust for power tells me that this battle will suffice enough. I'm obviously more than capable to run the entire demonic community. Ready… Aim…"

"You want the throne of the Source?" Piper asked, causing Avo to stop his countdown.

"Sheer power has always captivated me. Especially unique power…" he said as he eyed Paige, "The powers of the Source are on a grander scale and I want the opportunity to become immortal. Resting on that throne can give me that."

"You don't get immortality for being the Source. Believe me, we've killed three Sources in our time. We know," Phoebe said with a fake smile.

"I think he means immortality in the sense that his name goes on forever without being forgotten," Paige explained to her older sister. She wanted to just grab her sisters and Billie and get out of there, but she had a feeling her orbing power would take too long. Avo would surely have his demonic allies and Darklighters attack if he saw them trying to escape. Besides, with them gone Evil could claim the school.

"Very good, Paige," Avo complimented. "Enough talk though. You can assure this victory will be covered in the Magic School archives… Fire!"

A series of energy balls, fireballs, lightning bolts and arrows sped towards them all at once. Billie quickly placed her hands on her temple and projected a cloudy violet shield that protected the Charmed Ones, Cameron, the wood nymph and herself. All the magical attacks struck the projected shield and began to lessen its power.

"Nice work, Billie," Paige said and quickly turned to her sisters. "What's our next move? This shield isn't going to last for long."

"Sorry I can't sustain it for so long," the young witch apologized.

"Billie, just focus on restoring it as long as you can," Piper suggested, doing her best to buy them more time. "We need help. It's obvious."

"I'm going to call upon my people. You call on yours," Cameron said as he closed his eyes.

"Who are you?" Phoebe asked. She received no answer, as Cameron still appeared to be in concentration. "So we should get on calling our _people_."

"The rest of the magic community?" The wood nymph asked.

"I think I got just the spell," Paige said as she held out her hands to her sisters. Once they clasped with her, she chanted:

_Drawing on the Power of Three,_

_We call to us, the Magical Community!_

Several forms began to glisten in outside the cloudy shield. More and more continued to appear and when the glows died down, an army for good stood behind the witches. Clans of ogres possessed clubs, leprechauns were armed with gold to curse them, elfin warriors had crossbows and swords, witches with potions, and fairies with dust.

The opposing sides stared at each other, not releasing any attacks. The demonic side definitely had more aggressive powers, but the good side wouldn't just allow themselves to be defeated. They would go down fighting.

The cloudy shield of Billie's finally caved in and Billie dropped to her knees, exhausted from the amount of power she kept using.

In the middle of the Great Hall, several men and women, all in black leather, shimmered in and began to launch energy balls at the demons and Darklighters, vanquishing some. The demons then began to fight back as members of good charged into the battle.

"We need to do something fast," Phoebe said. "They'll die and it'll be our fault. I don't want them to feel that trusting us will only lead to an early grave."

"Power of Three spell comes to mind. We can cast a protective shield around ourselves as well as eliminate some of the lesser beings," Piper suggested. "Should we do it?"

"They're not all lesser beings," Paige reminded. "I'm going to go and kill Avo." She pulled out her potion from her pocket and charged into the battlefield which was once grounds for educating. No longer.

"Paige!" Piper shouted, trying to call her sister back.

The Witchlighter halted her charge as an elfin warrior swung back her sword and slashed the arm off of a Darklighter, then plunged it into his chest. She continued to run and saw Avo staring her down as she grew closer.

Avo held out his hand and conjured a thermal ball. He instantly released the violet colored fireball at Paige. Paige threw her potion and then held her hand up, to orb the vial back. She willed herself the best she could and the thermal ball turned around, unaccompanied by orbs. Paige's eyes widened as she just used the classic version of telekinesis.

The vial smacked into Avo's shoulder at the same time the thermal ball smacked against his chest. He instantly blew up and his black and purple orbs flew around the hall, absorbed Rose into orbs of her own and shot up through the roof.

When Paige turned around, more demons were dead, but members of good had to much to mourn later as well. Paige placed her hands on her stomach and willed herself to orb, tapping into the power that resided within her. She soon vanished in a cloud of orbs and made her way back to her sisters' side. "Avo's gone. Let's do one of our mass vanquishing Power of Three spells."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Piper said as she pulled out a folded paper from her pocket. She unfolded the paper and stood between her sisters. With a hand on each of her shoulders, one from Phoebe and the other from Paige, they chanted:

_United as the Power of Three,_

_Set us of these demons free,_

_Profound powers hear our call,_

_Vanquish all evil within these walls!_

In the center on the floor of the Great Hall rested a black sigil with six spikes drawn equally around a circle. The entire school began to violently shake ceasing all action from both opposing sides. Everyone looked around and the shake became even more violent, knocking a large number of opponents to the floor.

The Charmed Ones continued to hold onto each other, trying to maintain balance, but to no success. Together, they fell to the floor, landing over each other. Rubble began to fall from the ceiling, landing on members of both sides. Paige looked up to find a good chunk of the ceiling ready to slam down on her sisters and telekinetically willed it to move away, but only saved them by a few inches.

A blast of blue energy shot upwards from the center of the black sigil and through the ceiling. Everyone stared in awe as the blast continued to cause a violent shake until a violent crimson gust began to surround it.

The hair of many began to blow back and everyone started shielding their eyes from the light. Some demons tried to move towards the great power due to the allure, but were only blown back by it.

The shake grew intense for a final time as a whirring sound blared. Gold rings of intense power were then released, strictly attacking members of evil. The discriminating power instantly vanquished them upon contact. When the rings finally stopped, the powerful wind died down and the blue light fell back into the core of the school.

The Charmed Ones stood up and saw they were successful. All demons in the school were eliminated. The sight wasn't that great though. There were still dead Whitelighters on the floor, as well as some other members of the magical community.

Cameron signaled to his men. "Bring them back home. We'll schedule for proper burials." His allies began to run along to the corpses of the fallen soldiers and healers, then shimmered away with them. Cameron then turned to the Charmed Ones and Billie. "Be sure to keep the school safe this time." He then burst into a cloud of black particles and vanished from sight.

"We have to find out who he is," Billie weakly said as she stood up. "At least we know he's not evil, otherwise the spell would've killed him."

"First we protect the school with a spell. Then we'll work on discovering the man behind the mask and the truth behind Christy," Paige said. "Avo's not gone either. He took Rose with him. Something tells me we shouldn't have scared him away because that blast might've taken him out."

"Yeah, what was that?" Phoebe asked as she rubbed her eyes, tired.

"I believe it was the power of Magic School," Paige answered. "I remember reading up on it when I worked here, but I had no idea that it was power of such a large scale."

"This must've been the power they were trying to tap into or find this entire time. I knew we were calling upon greater powers with our spell, but wow. Who knew the school would evict the demons itself?" Piper said with a proud smile.

"Sucks to be them," Billie said. "So. Are we protecting this school or what?"

"Are you sure you're able to do this? Projecting that shield took a good amount of energy out of you," a concerned Phoebe said.

"I don't understand why that wore me out so much. Must've been because of all the firepower coming at it," Billie said, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I doubt it. I think it's this whole Christy thing," Paige realized. "Billie, you can cast some added magic on it later and for now, we'll just cast the spell." She then turned to the fairies that were floating before her. "We're going to need your help on this."

Two fairies, one of each gender, smiled in agreement. They began to glide around the Charmed Ones as Phoebe pulled out a spell, visible to her sisters.

_We amplify the power of fairy dust,_

_In order to protect this school, we must,_

_May its power encircle the school and conceal,_

_Forever lock and magically seal!_

The gold glittery dust flew out from the hands of the fairies and it spread all around. The amplified web of magic was visible from the window as it embedded itself within the school and the grounds. Magic School was safe again.

**(X)**

The eternal night in the Underworld was as cold as ever. Body temperature in that particular moment didn't matter to Rose and even if it would have, the demonic witch enjoyed the cold. At the moment, Avo rested his hands over Rose as a gray light began to eat her wounds closed. The skin stretched over and covered the wound as a scar began to form to keep it stitched.

"Tell me I'm going to get the chance to burn her," Rose said through strained speech. "You want Paige to die at your hands and I want Billie. Promise me she's mine."

"It won't be that easy," Avo responded. "But it will be soon enough. Your vengeance will take place in a matter of months."

"Months?!" Rose exclaimed as she slapped Avo's hands away from her. "I had plans to kill her tomorrow, if not within the next hour. Why do I have to wait so long?"

"We're leaving this realm. I need to better prepare you to take in the powers of Valen," Avo said. "It's important that you're strong enough to withstand these powers. If not, she'll completely dominate you."

"I thought I was just supposed to bring her out from her prison. Now she's possessing me?" Rose asked.

"Yes. As I told you before, you're the Trigger. Your powers of pyrokinesis and most importantly your ability of clairvoyance are important in releasing Valen. Once you embrace her inside, you'll have more than enough power to kill the young witch. I just hope you can kill her before she fully comes into her powers. The powers behind the Grand Design sure knew what they were doing when they assigned the Witchlighter a charge only she could handle," the demonic Darklighter explained.

"I don't care what she's coming into. I'll kill her with or without these new powers," the demonic witch said through gritted teeth. "You have my word on that."

"You're not exactly the only reason we're leaving. I'm not that strong anymore," Avo admitted. "All those Darklighters died and I imbued them with great power for this battle. None of their fallen orbs returned to me, so I have to find other ways to regain my strength. The Witchlighter also hit me with a potion. All she did was provoke me to hurt her in so many more ways. The Source's throne can wait... Vengeance overcomes that."

They stood up and cast one final glance around the lair. Rose placed her hand on her fresh scar, reminding her of her vengeance. Avo placed his hand on her shoulder and together they vanished in a column of inky purple and black orbs.

**(X)**

A twister of black particles slowly entered a room and formed Cameron. Cameron looked around the room, awaiting someone. There were pictures of several members of the coven that were painted and protected with metallic gold frames. The walls were maroon and there were several black and white candles resting alongside them. There were three black leather couches with a marble white table equidistant from all three in the middle. On top of that, rested some magazines about the magical realm.

"I'm out here!" An impatient Cameron shouted. He paced back and forth awaiting a woman of great importance to the coven.

A door unlocked and a woman in a smart black suit with thin gray stripes running along from top to bottom walked out. Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail and she smiled at Cameron. "How did it go? Successful?"

"We played our part in saving the school. The Charmed Ones have protected it though. The others did a great job as well, though I must take acknowledgment in the sense that I saved a Charmed One and their former apprentice witch. There were some nasty firestarters out there and that counted as a huge distraction," Cameron explained.

"I'm proud of you all," the coven leader, Annabelle, responded with a smile. "Did we lose anyone?"

"We're all still alive. The challenge was great in some aspects, but not enough to kill us, Mother," Cameron said. It was then that he slipped the gray leather band off his right wrist and revealed a crimson bird emblazoned on his wrist. "We Phoenixes are fighters."

**(X)**

Back in the Mitchell-Matthews Manor, Paige walked through the hallway and stopped at a door. She gently opened it, flicked on the lights and saw Billie was sleeping with an ice pack on her head. Paige smiled and left her friend to sleep after the long battle.

Paige entered her bedroom and saw Henry just looking through some files. She took a seat beside him on the bed and rested her head on a pillow. "I'm pretty tired," she said with a yawn following. "Why don't we both just ignore work for tonight and just rest?"

"I wish, Paige. I was supposed to do all this today, but I left my own _charges_ hanging today to help you. I am really glad that you let me help out today, though we didn't do much," Henry said. "I got a call from you once and Piper called as well, but her crystal broke before we could get back to her."

"The point is that you guys were sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for us to call and whenever we did, you answered. This victory is just as much yours as it is ours," Paige said with a smile. Henry turned to her and her smile remained for a few seconds before fading. "I also think I have a problem. It's definitely something I have to speak with the Elders about."

"About you dropping your duties until after the baby is born?" Henry asked. The mortal felt there was something more to it.

"I think I'm losing my powers," Paige said, as she forced a smile to lighten the discussion and shook her head back and forth. "I think I was tapping into the baby's power throughout the fight, but I need to know if this is going to happen to _it_ as well."

"I want to go with you when you find out. I want to be involved," Henry stated. "Do you think there is a chance you can recover from this?" Henry pushed all his files to the side, waiting for an answer. If Paige did end up mortal, which he desired in some ways but knew was unlikely, he would be okay with that.

"Yeah, I'm sure there is. Its just Avo hit me with some poison that killed the other Whitelighters. I just think that it's the Whitelighter in me that was ruined or killed. If so, I'm no longer the Witchlighter… Just a witch." She hoped not. She had finally discovered who she was and now the Whitelighter in her was severed.

"We'll go and find out what it's about soon. What do you think the Elders will decide on for the replacement of your duties?" Henry asked.

"I actually think I have something to suggest to them," Paige said. "I can teach Magic School and even help run it. I can cast some spells, find the old teachers and students and I can be within a protected environment. Our baby will be safe."

"That sounds great, Paige. I just really want to check out this situation with your powers as soon as possible. Why don't you try using that stone Billie gave you? The one that tells you about your powers," Henry suggested.

Paige took in a deep breath and sat up. "I'm scared to look at that thing. That power stone is only going to tell me that I'm a powerless witch. My Whitelighter powers have always defined who I have been, even as a witch. I can't see myself getting used to no orbing or not having the other powers at my disposal."

"Confirmation is definitely best right now, Paige. The sooner we have a better idea on what is going on, the better. This may sound harsh, but just get it over with," Henry said.

"Finding out I don't have my powers isn't as simple as I'd like it to be. It's not something I'm just going to get over if I find out that's the case. In some ways, I know you're right, but I just want you to be completely wrong," the Charmed One began to fight back tears. "Curiosity is getting the best of me though. Time to rip off that band-aid."

Paige opened the drawer besides her and reached in for her small white box that contained the crystal. She was already about to break down as she normally would've seen the light beaming out from the sides. It wasn't the case here. Paige opened the box and the crystal only had two tiny orbs gliding within. The _witch _had a feeling that it was only time until those lights died out as well.

**End of Chapter**

**A/Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I edited it myself, so please try not to go to harsh on me if I missed anything. Also, if a letter or so is missing or a word is combined with another, NOT my fault. It rarely is, it just happens to be a side effect of FF-Net at times.**

**Also there were supposed to be a couple scenes with the charges seen prior to this chapter, but would've only made it longer, but I plan to return a couple anyway in later chapters.**

**I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter is pretty important and I've been dying to write it for months and it's already written and is under editing. Thanks again guys...Don't forget to review.**


	10. Halliwells

**A/Note: Big delay and long story. Some know and others will wonder. This was my favorite chapter to write so far without a doubt for many reasons and I hope you guys will all enjoy it enough to leave your longest reviews possible for the longest chapter yet. Since it's been a while, here's a recap. SPOILERS ahead if you didn't read Chapter 9.**

**Paige lost her powers due to a poisonous mist of Avo's. Magic School was reclaimed by Good and Avo and Rose went into hiding to prepare to take in a greater power. Billie discovered that Christy isn't dead and without further ado... A very special guest star is in this chapter.**

**Chapter 10- Halliwells**

**October 2nd, 2006.**

Six spheres of dancing gold lights materialized in a hallway of Magic School. They coalesced into two shining silhouettes and seconds later fully formed into Paige and Henry. One final golden wash phased the couple before vanishing into the air. Paige and Henry were holding hands as they began to walk down the hall. She was in a maroon top and white slacks with slip-ons. She turned to Henry, who had his other hand in his blue jeans pocket and was looking around at the school's structure.

"This place is amazing, Paige," Henry admired.

"I thought so too the first time I came here. It still is, but I've been here enough not to appreciate its beauty so much anymore. I fought two of my greatest battles here with the last one topping the previous. What I'm trying to say is that I have a lot of history here with running the school, running _through_ the school and so on," Paige explained, rolling her hand through the air as she continued to ramble. "It's just hard to concentrate on the school's interior when I still don't have my powers back."

Henry nodded, understanding, "I know, I know. That's why we're here though. The Elders are going to have some answers for you. I'm sorry I got caught up with the school, I was just..."

"Interested," Paige answered for him. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm sorry that I took you away from that, I've just been crabby lately. All should be fine soon."

The two entered the Great Hall and saw a great amount of work being done. Whitelighters that were assisting could be identified in their simple white robes and Witch Doctors that were cleansing the school of evil remnants were in their traditional gray robes with earrings sculpted like a horned skull.

One Whitelighter approached Paige, "Greetings."

"Hey," Paige said. "Would you happen to know when Sandra and Odin or any of the other Elders are coming down here?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question as the answer is beyond my knowledge. I'm sorry, but I do have a request of you," he replied.

"And what would that be?" Paige asked.

"The Witch Doctors that are present need to clean the room where the Triad resided earlier in the year. They were vanquished in that room as well and rested within the white platform, which we have identified as an altar of great ability. The only problem standing in their way would be that your friend Billie won't leave. She doesn't want anyone touching the place until she's done with it," the Whitelighter explained. "She's been in that room for days and there is no telling when she'll be done with it. We were hoping that you'd be able to talk her down as she won't _throw_ you out the room." He then dropped his hood and revealed a forehead that seemed to be bruised.

"Oh, that looks like it hurts," Paige said. "I'll go and talk with her." She then turned to Henry and said, "Mind waiting here? I just don't want to risk you getting the greatest headache of your life."

"Billie wouldn't attack me," Henry said.

Paige patted him against the chest and said, "Why don't we just play it safe, buddy?" She turned to the Whitelighter, "Can you maybe show him a magazine or something? He'll tell you what he likes. I'll be back soon."

She then walked off and tried to remember the room.

**(X)**

The black room had a magical effect. The eternal shadow enchanted into the room had the effect to conceal those who wished to be hidden, but Billie didn't have that desire. It could've been the white silk blouse she had on that helped make her more visible, but the logical reason would be the white glowing altar placed in the center of the room. Three separate scorch marks with specks of ash on top were on the altar, dimming the light slightly, but Billie wasn't paying attention to the ashes that never seemed to blow away with the amount of wind that constantly passed through the school.

The ashes that Billie was paying attention were those of her sister. Like the ashes of the Triad, the wind never blew them away. Billie was crouching down before them, rethinking if whether or not these were her sister's ashes with the knowledge of finding out that Christy wasn't dead. She was staring at the ashes long enough. She now reached out and scooped some of them up in her hand. "Hopefully... This will lead me to you, Christy."

Billie pulled out a vial with her free hand and let the ashes slide out of her palm and into the vial. She then rubbed the remaining ashes that didn't go in onto the floor and corked the vial. She lifted the vial to her eye level and just stared.

**(X)**

Paige opened another door and it was just a classroom. "I sure hope you didn't cloak that room from everyone else," Paige said about Billie, but not to anyone. Paige had forgotten where the room was with all the time that passed and just continued to search. She moved to the next door and felt a strange tingle the closer she got. Her fingertips touched the doorknob, but something hesitated her from turning it. Realizing this was nonsense, Paige turned the knob and pushed it open.

A golden vortex opened up and the feeling that Paige got before intensified. Her body began to glow the same color as the vortex and swallowed her in. The vortex closed, as did the door. Paige was gone.

**(X)**

Paige glistened into Halliwell Manor -- and felt bewilderingly different, close to being swamped by a sense of family love. "What the hell?" she wondered out loud, shaking her head to clear it of the overwhelming sensation.

She looked around, realizing she was in her old bedroom. And that it was different too. Her bed, the one that had originally belonged to the late Prue Halliwell, was still there, but it now sported different color linens, a matching blanket, and a rose-patterned quilt. Her old paintings had vanished from the walls; in their place were flowery prints that Paige found decidedly unappealing.

Her eyes landed on the full-length mirror -- and her translucent complexion went paler as she took in her reflection. She walked slowly to the mirror, her jaw dropping as she ran her hands over her clothing and stared at her hair. It was still dark brown, only it was now longer, nearly reaching the middle of her back. Her maroon top had been replaced by a white blouse under a plaid vest of black, white and gray. Instead of white slacks, she now wore khaki pants. And her slip-ons had somehow morphed into black-heeled boots.

For a long moment the Witchlighter could only gape at her new self in disbelief. "What's going on? What's happened to me?" Determined to find an answer, she turned and left the room, her newly lengthened hair flowing behind her. She went out into the hallway. It looked the same: The wall was lined with framed photographs of Piper, Leo and their sons, the deceased Prue, Phoebe and Coop, Patty Halliwell, Grams, and of Paige herself with Henry.

She proceeded down the staircase to hear the sound of male cheers and whoops coming from the conservatory. Puzzled, she entered to find a casually dressed Henry, Leo and Coop sitting in front of the television, watching a 49ers game. And their cheers said the team was winning.

Paige stared wordlessly at her husband, who noticed her and smiled before turning back to the game, not at all surprised by her new appearance. His calm response wasn't the only thing that shocked her; her parole officer spouse should have been at work, not here watching football. And wasn't Leo supposed to be at Magic School, meeting with the Elders to plan new classes for the upcoming semester? And why was Coop, a hard-working cupid, glued to ESPN instead of out helping potential couples realize their potential as couples? Something was definitely wrong.

Paige sighed and pursed her lips. "I think I'll refrain from saying I'm not in Kansas anymore," she muttered to herself.

"What was that, honey?" Henry asked, not taking his eyes from the TV screen.

She quickly decided that until she got to the bottom of this new mystery, it was best to play along. "Nothing," she lied._ I hope the_ _Book of Shadows is still here in the house_, she added mentally. _Because if it isn't..._

Leo flicked his eyes at her and then at the staircase in a subtle gesture. "Aren't you supposed to be in the attic, helping the girls?"

"Oh, is that what I'm supposed to be doing?" Paige said nonchalantly. She gave him an innocent smile and an equally innocent shrug. "Well, okay, if you say so."

She turned and retreated back up the stairs, reaching the top landing. Walking down the hallway, she reached the attic door, opened it and entered, wondering what she would see.

The attic, with its dark wooden walls and beamed ceiling, looked as it always had: Familiar old furniture and boxes, knickknacks, books, and keepsakes littered the room while the three large Persian rugs, two square-shaped and the other round, were in their usual places on the hardwood floor.

Paige's eyes drifted to the podium holding the Book of Shadows, in front of the stained-glass windows. There, having opened the Book to a certain page, stood Phoebe Halliwell, beautiful as ever, clad in blue jeans and a green shawl over a tee-shirt, her chestnut hair tied back in a bun. Her large dark eyes were fixed on whatever entry she was reading, a notepad in her hand.

A faint bubbling sound reached Paige's ears. She turned her head to see her eldest sister, Piper Halliwell, standing at the large, circular table cluttered with bowls and jars of various herbs, powders, and other magical ingredients the Charmed Ones used for potion making. Also on the table sat a pair of three-legged, pewter cauldrons from which mist and the bubbling noise emanated. Her own face a mask of concentration, Piper tossed into each cauldron some eel skin, demon ash, and a substance resembling blue honey. She then rubbed her fingers over the cauldrons, wiping off the ash.

_Eel skin? Demon ash?_ Paige wondered in surprise. _I can't place the blue stuff, but eel skin and demon ash means Piper's making some of her best vanquishing potions. But for who?_

  Piper glanced at the attic entrance and spotted Paige. She smiled. "Ah, there you are. How'd everything go with your charge?"

_Whoa_, Paige thought,_ I still have my Whitelighter powers?_ "My charge?" she said, quickly returning the smile. "Um, she's fine. Thanks for asking."

Phoebe raised her eyes from her notepad. "I thought you said your charge was _male_," she said to Paige in a puzzled tone as Piper cocked a curious eyebrow at the Witchlighter.

"Oh!" Paige exclaimed and slapped her hand against her forehead. "Slip of the tongue. Silly me."

Her joking smile faded as her sisters looked at each other and then back at her, their expressions changing from puzzlement to suspicion. "Piper, freeze her," Phoebe suggested.

Paige's dark eyebrows shot up. "What? No, wait! I'm not a demon!"

Piper's hands flashed out in her direction. Paige strangely braced herself for the time-freeze that would render her motionless in the case she could freeze, and didn't. She sighed with relief.

The older Halliwell nodded in satisfaction. "She's clean." She turned to Phoebe. "Lucky for us that I can freeze these warlocks. Otherwise, my test would have been useless."

Paige stared at her in amazement. "A test? Is my word not enough?"

Piper saw her expression and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Paige. It's just that with these warlocks we're facing, we have to take precautions." She turned her attention back to her bubbling potions. "Would you like to help me finish these or do you want to help Phoebe with her spells?" 

Paige pasted on a smile. "I know I can't top either your potions or her spells, but I'll head over to the Spells Department anyway. I can be of more help there." She went to the Book of Shadows, where the now-receptive middle Halliwell sister greeted her with a smile.

Phoebe ripped a page out of her notepad. "Okay, here's what I have," said Phoebe, handing it to Paige. "On the front are typical offensive-defensive spells; on the back are several vanquishing spells. If you feel any wording is off, tell me now. We have to do this right from the get-go."

Paige felt uneasy as she eyeballed the paper. "Uh, Phoebe, you know I'm always honest with you about your spells. Is our situation so bad that you feel you have to add a disclaimer?" _Who the hell are we fighting? _she wondered.

"Sweetie," Phoebe said with a patient smile, "I wish you'd stop thinking your word doesn't count in this family. It does, or I wouldn't ask you to go over this with me. But you have to accept the fact that your opinion as a Whitelighter doesn't carry as much weight as it would if you were a witch."

_Wait a minute!_ Paige thought, stunned by her sister's words. _What do you mean if I was a witch? I am a witch! What's going on here? _  "Oh," she said calmly. "Is _that_ why I usually feel like I never get any credit?"

"Come on, Paige, don't be like that," Piper spoke up from the potions table. "Phoebe and I are Charmed Ones; you're not. You've complained about it, but it's always been that way. If we could've had some Power of Four click, we would've, but it wasn't set up to be that way."

"And it makes you lucky in some areas," Phoebe hurriedly added, seeing her half-sister's offended look. "Being a Whitelighter means you don't have to worry about Wiccan duties." She chuckled. "Believe me, I'd kiss the foot of anyone who can be both a witch and a Whitelighter."

"Then I'll take off my shoe so you can start kissing!" said Paige angrily. "Not only am I a Charmed One, I'm a Whitelighter! In fact, I'm a Witchlighter!"

"A what?" exclaimed Piper in wide-eyed amusement.

"Paige, you're not a Charmed One," Phoebe said, her calm response hiding her surprise at Paige's vehemence. "Three sister witches with active powers were prophesized. I should know; I read the entry about it. Prue, Piper, and I are the Charmed Ones." She smiled. "But I admit I do like 'Witchlighter'. It's a cute play on words."

Paige stared silently at Phoebe. It was several moments before she found her voice. "Prue?" she said slowly. "Excuse me, but did you say 'Prue'?"

She quickly went through the facts: Her outfit had changed and her hair was longer, then her own sisters had informed her that she was not a Charmed One, only a mere Whitelighter. And now...

Paige shook her head. "No, you have that wrong. Prue's dead." She looked from Phoebe to Piper. "That's how you guys first met me, after she died."

"Who died?" a voice asked a short distance from the doorway.

Paige froze, fighting to stay calm as her Halliwell blood instantly rejoiced upon recognizing one of its own. Her deepest instincts said this new voice was as familiar to her as her own, but her rational mind rebelled, arguing that the owner of the voice was nobody she knew, someone she had never met and had never been destined to meet.

Footsteps approached. Willing herself to turn around, Paige blanched, her heart practically coming to a stop, as the fair-skinned woman clad in blue jeans and a black sleeveless top -- the woman whose likeness Paige had seen in family albums and the photographs out in the hallway -- entered, carrying a brown paper bag.

Her glossy black hair swung gracefully about her shoulders, Prue Halliwell went over to Piper. "Here are your ingredients," she said.

"Thanks," Piper replied, taking the bag from her to place it on the table.

Paige watched as Prue cast her ice-blue gaze in Phoebe's direction, and then at Paige herself. "Glad to see you're back," she said, giving a toothy smile. "How's your charge? Is he okay?"

Paige couldn't answer even if she had wanted to. Her face now totally white, she continued to stare at the predecessor who she knew couldn't possibly be alive and, more to the point, shouldn't have been.

Seeing the shock on the younger girl's face, Prue's smile faded. She approached Paige, concern clearly present in her voice and expression. "Are you all right? You look like you've --"

"Seen a ghost?" Paige took a step back, finishing the sentence. "Maybe, just _maybe_, because I have." Her words tumbled out from her. "How can you be here, Prue? You're dead! You were killed by Shax, the Source's hit-man!"

Now it was Prue's turn to be shocked. "What are you talking about? Piper, Phoebe, and I killed him! You saved me; you healed me while Leo healed Piper. And the Elders told us you were just in time, so if it wasn't for you, I would be dead." She took Paige by the hands. "Look at me. I'm alive, aren't I?"

Paige felt the gentle pressure of the grip. Almost reflexively, she squeezed Prue's hands, feeling warm skin and solid bone beneath. "Yes," she replied, "you are."

"Yes," Prue continued in a calm, firm voice, "so you need to get it together because we have big bad warlock ass to kick."

Paige stared at the three women. "You guys don't get it," she protested. "This shouldn't be happening; it must be some kind of funky alternate reality." She shut her eyes with a groan. "Why me? Why does this always have to happen to me?"

A concerned Piper watched from the potions table. "Prue, check her temperature."

"Yeah, she may be coming down with something," Phoebe added worriedly.

Prue felt Paige's forehead for a minute. "No, she's fine. She doesn't have a fever." She placed her hands on the Witchlighter's shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. "Paige, listen to me. This isn't an alternate reality; this is here and now. And you have to get a grip. We'll need you if we take on these warlocks. This is our Ultimate Battle and we can't afford to go into it with you dazed."

"We had the Ultimate Battle!" Paige cried. "It ended when Billie killed her sister after she realized Christy had tricked her into betraying us."

"Paige, you're talking nonsense," Piper said. "That was nowhere near an Ultimate Battle. And Billie never betrayed us. You were such a good Whitelighter to her that she believed you rather than that demon-reared sister of hers. Billie vanquished Christy before she could infiltrate our lives any further. It was both unfortunate and necessary and Billie realizes that."

Phoebe looked at Prue, still worried. "And those are awfully big factors for her to forget." She glanced at the attic door as a fresh wave of male cheers floated up the staircase from the conservatory. "Should we say that she's developed amnesia?"

"No," said Prue, shaking her head. "She's our baby sister; we protect family. We don't want to worry everyone else." She smiled at Paige, gently placing a hand on her cheek. "And besides, Paige doesn't like to be crowded by helping hands, so three pairs will do nicely," she finished with a wink.

Paige gazed at her predecessor, unable to mistake the look in her face and eyes for anything other than it was: Genuine love and caring. She remembered Phoebe telling the story of how, after the death of their mother Patty Halliwell, seven-year-old Prue had taken it upon herself to help Grams look after the younger Piper and Phoebe. "Nobody asked her to do it and she really didn't have to," Phoebe had said, "but Prue chose to practically sacrifice her own childhood to help Grams raise us, so she was always more like a second mother than a big sister." Indeed, at this moment Prue seemed to glow with maternal warmth. It filled Paige with such soothing calmness that she was surprised when she felt herself relax more quickly and completely than she ever had in her life. She heaved a quiet sigh.

"Feeling better now?" asked Prue, still smiling.

Paige smiled and nodded back. She had always wondered what it would have felt like growing up with the original Charmed trio, especially Prue. As she glanced around the attic, Paige saw that this is how it must have been in this particular timeline: Fighting alongside them and sharing intimate sisterly moments. Now she wondered what else she would discover in this alternate universe.

Piper went to the window overlooking the backyard, and peered out. "Okay, the kids are fine, but I think we should remind the guys that they're outside before we leave."

"We're nowhere near leaving," said a frustrated Phoebe. "We still haven't agreed on what spell to use, the potions haven't settled, and we apparently have to tell Paige about the warlocks." She gave Piper an apologetic look. "Sorry to be so negative, but they aren't the usual low-base types we've fought before." She sat down at the oak table, put down her notepad, and rested her chin in her cupped hands.

"Don't worry, Phoebs," Piper said, tossing some more ingredients into her cauldrons. "We know what their powers are."

"But I don't," Paige interjected, raising her hand in the air like a curious student. "I'm still listed in the Yellow Pages under 'Clueless'."

Her smile vanishing, Prue eyed the young woman, and glanced at her sisters. "Uh, Phoebe, Piper, why don't you go downstairs?"

Phoebe raised her head and looked at Prue in surprise.

"What?" said an equally surprised Piper. She pointed at the cauldrons. "But the potions--"

"I'll watch them," Prue assured her. "Meanwhile, help Phoebe choose a spell. We have to get a move-on before they attack again."

The two other Charmed Ones exchanged puzzled looks, but Piper shrugged and walked away from the potions table. Phoebe picked up her notepad and followed her out of the attic.

Prue turned to face Paige, whose heart pounded against her chest as she met the elder Halliwell's gaze. She was now alone with the sister whose voice she had never heard before until today, the sister whose looks and personality Paige shared... the legendary Charmed One who was unstoppable when it came to protecting her innocents and her loved ones from evil.

Paige swallowed, masking her anxiety as best she could. "So, are you gonna cast a spell on me to see if I'm a warlock?"

Prue shook her head. "Piper would have tried to freeze you, and obviously she couldn't, so it means you truly are my sister. If you were a warlock, you'd know about our clashes with other warlocks, as everyone else in the magical world does." Concern filled her face and voice. "And the fact that you don't worries me. What's going on with you, Paige? What's happened?"

Paige waited for several moments before answering, her mind working hard. _I have to go along,_ she thought. _Magic School sent me here for a reason, so I may as well enjoy the ride.  _ Recalling what Phoebe had said earlier about her not being a Charmed One, she took it from there. "Oh, you know me," she said with the most innocent shrug and smile that she could muster. "I was just wishing I was Charmed like you guys. I tend to feel out of place at times, that's all."

Prue arched an eyebrow. "You know we don't treat you any differently. I thought you got past this."

_Ah_, Paige thought, _enjoy the ride and learn something along the way_. "I did? How? Refresh my memory."

Prue gave her a look that unmistakably asked _why are you so out of it?_ Yet she took a breath and patiently explained. "You were searching for your place in the world, and after Mom and Sam said you had gifts that none of us had, and what you could do with them, you realized you'd found it."

Paige couldn't resist smiling. She listened to Prue's explanation, enjoying the fact that she was actually having a conversation with the big sister she had never known. But beneath her pleasure, confusion still swirled, and the mention of Sam Wilder, the Whitelighter who was her biological father, only added to it.

_This can't really be Prue, or can it? _her rational mind asked. _In fact, this whole alternate timeline can't be real, or is it? And if it is, are both my biological parents still alive? I need answers._

She nodded after Prue finished speaking. "Okay, thanks," Paige said. "As you know, I stick mainly to my charges, so I'm not well versed on these warlocks you've been talking about. Can you shed any light on them?"

"Not a great deal; they're still fairly new to us," Prue admitted. "But I can say they're probably the strongest ones we've ever come up against. This is what the Book of Shadows had to say about them: They're known as the Rowe Coven. Since the tenth century, every generation of them has gotten stronger, so now the power of the present generation equals ours, except it's evil. We're hoping to vanquish them now, while we're all here together, so they don't attack each of us when we're alone."

Paige's eyebrows went up. The Rowe Coven? The three warlock brothers? Phoebe had told her the story: The youngest brother, half-human Brendan Rowe, had renounced his demonic heritage and had entered the priesthood to escape it. His two full-warlock sibs, Greg and Paul, had nearly succeeded in turning him prior to his ordination, but the Charmed Ones' intervention, as well as Brendan's feelings for Prue, had put a permanent end to the Rowe Coven, with Greg and Paul being vanquished as an extra bonus.

_But it doesn't sound like it happened here,_ Paige mused. The way Prue was telling it, Brendan in this timeline didn't reject his evil side; he embraced it.

"They each have special powers," Prue continued. "And since killing for powers is how warlocks get them in the first place, we have to be extra careful. For all we know, the Rowe brothers could have stolen even more powers by now to strengthen themselves against us."

One of the potions exploded, emitting a small mushroom cloud. "I better get that," she said. She went to the brew and telekinetically stirred it to help it settle.

"Hey, lady," Paige exclaimed, "isn't that a little thing called personal gain?"

"Yes, it is. For that," laughed Prue, gesturing at the wooden spoon lying next to the cauldron. "I don't dare use it; the potion would dissolve it until only the handle was left. It's one of Piper's best spoons, and if anything happened to it, she'd make me buy her a new one."

"Oh, I see," Paige replied with a smile. "Anyway, getting back to the Rowe Coven, isn't there a way to disempower them? You know, with a power-stripping potion or spell?"

"Unfortunately, we only have one that disempowers witches," answered Prue.

"Maybe it can be reworked to disempower a warlock or three."

"Well, unless you're eager to make a potion from a fresh human heart, I doubt we'll be doing that. We're going to vanquish them, Charmed style." Prue suddenly smiled. "And we won't leave our Whitelighter out of it, either."

Paige returned the smile. Despite her faint suspicion that Prue was only being sympathetic, it was good to see that, even though she wasn't a Charmed witch in this particular universe, Paige was clearly a valued member of the family.

Piper's voice from downstairs ended the conversation. "Prue! Paige! Front and center!"

Prue stopped stirring the potion and checked it. She grinned. "Whew, saved by the Piper. I think I was stirring this too much."

"I guess so," Paige chuckled. She gestured at the attic door with her head. "I take it we should put in an appearance downstairs?"

"Uh-huh," Prue said as she put the potions into vials and corked them. "Piper wants to get this over with so we can all return to our normal lives, such as they are."

Paige gave a little snort of laughter. "Some things never change, do they?"

"Maybe some day, for us," said Prue. She placed the now-filled vials into pouches. "Done. Let's go."

The Witchlighter nodded and led the way out of the attic. Prue caught up with her, linking arms with her in sisterly fashion. "Hey, don't leave me," she said with a smile that Paige warmly returned.

The eldest and youngest Halliwell went down the stairs and through the foyer and living room. Unlinking their arms, they entered the dining room to see Phoebe and Piper sitting opposite each other at the table. The two middle sisters turned and smiled.

"Well," Phoebe said good-humoredly to Paige, "are we doing better now, or do I call Bay Side Witches' Hospital?"

"Phoebe!" Piper said in mock reproach.

Paige blushed at the remark, but took no offense. She always knew when Phoebe was only teasing.

"She's fine now," Prue said, smiling. "She told me that while she was protecting her charge, the Darklighter she was fighting conked her with his crossbow."

Paige saw it was her cue. "Yeah, it hurt like hell too," she said, rubbing the back of her head. "But I vanquished him." She smacked her hands together. "So, are we ready to go kick warlock behind?"

"Let's say good-bye to the kids first," Piper said. She rose from the table. "We don't want to regret not doing it should the worst happen." She headed for the backyard, followed by Phoebe and Prue.

Paige went to follow them but stopped, her eyes widening as a thought suddenly struck her. _Dear God, am I a mom here? _She felt her stomach quizzically. Not even a slight bump.

"Paige, come on!" Prue called.

"Coming!" she answered and trotted after her sisters. She cut through the conservatory and caught up with them at the door leading out to the backyard.

And the scene that met her as she entered the backyard made her softly catch her breath. Five children were playing: A blond hazel-eyed boy, holding a soccer ball, was being chased by two brown-haired ones. On the other side of the yard, a pair of little brunette girls, one taller than the other, held hands while they ran in circles, laughing merrily.

"Oh, my God," Paige breathed, watching the children. She was shocked that they were able to enjoy themselves like this when evil was all around them.

The taller girl suddenly tripped and fell, bringing down the shorter girl with her. "Mommy! Mommy!" the smaller one wailed from the grass as her companion guiltily rose to her feet.

Phoebe went to them, knelt, and took the crying child in her arms. "It's all right, honey. You're okay." She kissed the child's forehead and rocked her soothingly.

The three boys stopped their game and crowded around Phoebe and the little girl. "Is Melinda hurt, Aunt Phoebe?" the blond boy asked, throwing his soccer ball down. "Should I heal her?"

"She's fine, Wyatt," Phoebe replied, "but thank you for offering." She continued to shush her little one.

Piper walked over to her sons, Wyatt and Christopher Halliwell, and placed a hand on a shoulder of each. She gazed worriedly at their tearful cousin. "Are you sure, Phoebs?"

Phoebe looked up and nodded. "She'll be fine. She has only a few minor scrapes."

The remaining boy, whose brown hair was much darker than Chris', ran to Prue and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Is Melinda gonna be okay, Mom?" he asked, looking up at her with large blue eyes. "Aunt Phoebe didn't want her to be healed."

"She's okay, Aaron. She has to learn how to handle little hurts, that's all," Prue explained. She turned to Paige and smiled. "It's wonderful how our children care about each other. I think we did a good job raising them considering everything we have to go through."

"Yeah, it sure looks like it," Paige said with a smile. She turned toward the second girl -- and her eyes widened. The child's face resembled hers all the way to the dimple in the chin; she had the same dark hair, amber-colored eyes, and pale skin. An eerie feeling crept over Paige that this was in fact her own daughter, a suspicion that was verified when the child spotted her and ran to her.

"I didn't mean to make Melinda fall, Mommy, honest!" the child cried. "We were just playing and then I tripped and she fell down with me. It was an accident!"

Paige crouched down and embraced the child. "It's okay..." she began, and then stopped abruptly. _Oh, no,_ she realized with a jolt_, I_ _don't know her name!_ She released the little one and gazed at her. The child's face was reddening; she was plainly on the verge of crying.

It was then that Phoebe unknowingly came to the rescue. "Samantha!" she called.

Paige mentally sighed with relief as the little girl looked toward Phoebe and then back at her with worried eyes. "Are you gonna say it was my fault?"

"No, sweetie. I'm sure Aunt Phoebe knows it isn't, but I'll come with you just in case." Paige smiled. "Okay?"

Samantha gave a little smile and nodded. "Okay."

They rose from the ground. Paige took Samantha's hand and they went to Phoebe, who was helping her daughter up.

"I didn't mean to make her fall down, Aunt Phoebe," Samantha apologized.

"I know you didn't, honey," Phoebe said to her. "It was just an accident. But she's not as big as you are, so you have to be careful when you play with her."

The little girl nodded and approached her sniffling cousin. "Are you better now, Mellie?" she asked.

Melinda nodded, rubbing tears from her dark brown eyes.

"I'm glad," Samantha said, brightening. "Wanna spin around some more?"

Paige chuckled. She turned to see Prue and Piper talking to their children, and knew it had to be about the upcoming battle with the Rowe Coven. "Just a moment, Samantha, I have to talk to you."

Samantha looked up at her. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Paige said, kneeling in front of the child. She took her by her slender shoulders. "Your aunts and I have to leave now."

"Where are you going?"

"We have to fight some bad guys. We're just letting you know in case--"

"You don't come back?" Samantha finished for her in a quivering voice.

Paige took a deep breath. This mother gig was so new to her, and her speech wasn't one she had practiced. But the child's frightened look told her where this was going.

"Hey, we'll be okay," she said reassuringly. "Haven't we always come out of these things?" Samantha nodded, and Paige continued. "Besides, we have to make the world safe, not just for you and your cousins, but for big witches and ordinary people." She smiled. "I promise I'll come back to you and Daddy. Do you trust that Mommy can do this?"

Samantha nodded. She let go of Paige's hand and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Yes, Mommy, I trust you."

Paige lifted the child and embraced her, fighting back tears. She felt her growing faith in herself as a mother as she held Samantha. And she now couldn't help but wonder if the child in her arms was actually the baby that might be growing within Paige at this moment. If so, she wasn't worried. She already knew how to love her.

**(X)  **

After spending a few more minutes with their children, the four sisters trouped back into the manor to say good-bye. They paused in the entrance to the conservatory, seeing their better halves still parked in front of the TV. Prue cleared her throat. "Uh, guys." The men looked in her direction.

"We have to go. The Rowe Coven can't wait," she said. "But much as we'd like our own homefield advantage, our families' safety comes first. So, on that note, plant your kisses so we can get outta here."

"Oh, somebody's grouchy because their man's still at work," Phoebe joked.

Prue shot her a look of mock warning and exited the conservatory, leaving her sisters alone with their husbands. The men rose from their seats and approached their wives, who went to them.

Henry put his arms around Paige's waist and looked down at her. "Going into battle again?"

"How well you know me," she quipped, pressing up against him.

"True, so you don't have to give a reason; it always turns out fine." His brown eyes gazed steadily into hers. "But this is the big one, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Henry heaved a slow sigh. "Okay, let's relax for a moment and look ahead. After you win this Ultimate Battle, how do you see us?"

"What else? As one big clichéd happy family," Paige said, smiling, "the kind we can't stand seeing on television. But don't worry; I'll still have the occasional charge to liven things up. Sound good?"

Henry chuckled. "I've been married to you for six years now. You've given me a beautiful daughter, some of the happiest times of my life, and we managed that with the occasional charge calling for you. So it's safe to say life will be just as great as it is now."

"Well, Mr. Mitchell," Paige teasingly said, tapping her finger on his chin, "if life is good now, it will continue to be so. I promise."

They kissed and embraced tightly. Paige noticed Piper and Phoebe doing the same with their spouses.

"I'll walk you out," Henry said, wrapping an arm around Paige's shoulders. They left the conservatory, followed by the other two couples. She slowed her steps in surprise when she saw Prue standing in the foyer with a man in a white shirt, a brown suit and tie, and black shoes. Paige had never seen him before, but judging from the embrace the couple shared, he was doubtlessly Prue's husband.

"Well," Phoebe said jokingly behind her, "it seems Andy came to see Prue off after all."

_Andy?_ Paige thought, her eyebrows lifting. _Andy Trudeau?_ This was another story Phoebe had told. Andy Trudeau had been the love of Prue's life. They had first met as kids and dated in high school, then lost track of each other following graduation, with Prue pursuing a career in the fine-arts field while Andy became a police officer. Shortly after the Charmed Ones had moved back into Halliwell Manor following Grams's death, Andy and Prue met each other again and had picked up where they had left off. But their rekindled romance had ended all too suddenly when Andy, in an attempt to protect Prue and her sisters, was killed by a demon the Charmed Ones were fighting. As tragic as the story was, it was a lesson in love that Paige never forgot. And she couldn't help but smile as she saw that Andy too was alive and with Prue in this alternate reality.

"Hey, what do you expect?" said Andy, grinning over Prue's shoulder at Phoebe. "I'm a hardworking lieutenant in the San Francisco Police Department. But I have seniority and they understand. Besides, Darryl's covering for me."

"As usual," Prue said, smiling at her husband. "I'm so glad he's your partner. I don't think you could've been assigned anyone more trustworthy."

Paige privately agreed. In her own reality, Lieutenant Darryl Morris had proved to be just as trustworthy to the Charmed Ones after he had learned their secret following Andy's death.

"That's for sure," said Piper. "At first I thought he couldn't handle it when you told him we were witches. You said it really freaked him out."

"It did," Andy concurred. "He didn't want to know anything about it, not even when I jokingly asked if he wanted to know if you could actually fly."

Prue chuckled. "He didn't even want to know if we owned a broom, a skillet --"

"I do own the skillet," Piper interjected, getting a laugh from the group.

"Or a cauldron or a Dustbuster," Phoebe said, chortling. "Poor Darryl, he was really shaken."

"Yeah, it took his wife and me to calm him," Andy said. "After he realized you girls also protected the innocent, we've worked together more closely since then." He looked from one sister to another. "But enough praise for my partner. You have work to do, so you'd better get going."

"We're leaving now," Prue said. She turned to her sisters. "Let's go."

Stopping at the coat rack by the front door, Prue put on her black leather jacket, while Piper took her tan one and shouldered herself into it. Phoebe apparently felt comfortable enough to brave the weather with only her shawl. Paige decided to play it safe by wearing a white jacket.

As Prue opened the door, she suddenly stopped and slapped her forehead. "Crap, I forgot the potions!" She turned to Paige. "Can you run upstairs and get the pouches? I'm going to go and start the car and we'll meet you out front." She walked out, followed by Piper and Phoebe. Phoebe closed the door after them.

"Car? We're driving?" Paige said bewilderedly as she turned and headed for the staircase.

**(X)**

Five minutes later, Prue was behind the wheel of her black SUV, with Piper next to her on the passenger's side, while Paige and Phoebe sat comfortably in the back. All four were buckled in, the Charmed Ones' and Paige's potion pouches resting on their laps.

"Okay, Paige, here's the game plan," Phoebe said. "You'll be hidden while the rest of us trick the Rowe brothers into thinking it's three against three. I doubt they'll expect an attack from inside their own house." She smiled to herself. "I'm going to love turning the tables on them."

"But we're giving them the home court advantage," Paige pointed out. "We might as well have sent our families to Magic School and invited the Rowes to trash Halliwell Manor."

"That's Plan B," said Phoebe. "For now, we're aiming to surprise them at home. I just hope they haven't killed a seer or psychic witch, and know we're coming."

"Still, if they're anything like you guys, they'll recover from the attack quickly. How many demons have barged into the Manor and gotten their asses kicked despite having the element of surprise?"

"That's because we've honed our powers and our instincts for that kind of attack," Piper said over her shoulder. "The Rowe Coven have powers, but so do we. And we have to have faith in ours."

Prue sighed as she negotiated the road. "This is all my fault," she said regretfully. "I should have tried harder to convince Brendan that his brothers only wanted to use him to complete the Rowe Coven. And now that they have, they'll kill us if we're not careful."

"Prue," Piper said, "we've told you a million times that it isn't your fault. Bottom line, Brendan's warlock side was stronger than his human blood." She turned to face the front. "And now the Ultimate Battle pits three of the world's strongest witches against three of the most powerful warlocks who ever lived. As difficult as it may be, fighting these guys beats the hell out of fighting another demon or an evil witch."

"They cheated to reach our level of strength," said Phoebe. "They killed witches, demons, and other warlocks with powers to add to their own. And their bond is just as strong as ours if they've been doing this for as long as we have." She sat back in her seat, taking a deep breath as she gazed out the window. "We should have cast a spell to enhance our powers before we left."

Prue made a sharp left turn, causing all four women to shift in their seats. "We've been at this for nine years, Phoebe," she said as she straightened her car's trajectory. "And we know the warlocks we're going after. The only thing to watch out for is if they've obtained any new powers. As I see it, our own powers will protect us: My telekinesis and astral projection, Piper with her ability to freeze and explode things, and your skills at levitation, martial arts, and empathic channeling."

"You're right, there's no severe need to panic. We're grounded in our powers," said Phoebe with an ironic smile. She opened her pouch to eye the vial filled with blue liquid. "But I'll play it safe and use Piper's potion."

"Hey, don't doubt yourself," Prue said, pulling her SUV up alongside a curb. "Like Piper said, we have to have faith and you wield your empathic gift in ways that I never could."

"That's because you weren't meant to be an empath," Phoebe said. She recalled how a cursed demon had tricked Prue into receiving his empathic gift, and how it had nearly destroyed her.

Prue smiled. "Point taken," she said as she set the brakes and switched off the engine. She looked at her sisters. "Are we ready?"

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige nodded as one. Unbuckling their seat belts, the Halliwells exited the SUV. Standing alongside each other on the sidewalk, they gazed at the ominous structure before them.

"There it is," Prue said quietly. "Rowe Manor."

"Wow, evil has worked for these guys," Paige said, taking in the dark, gothic features of the house.

Piper smirked. "Some real estate agent's going to have a field day after we vanquish the current owners."

"If we can't, maybe we can sue them for house-naming infringement," said Phoebe wryly.

Her sisters looked at her with snorts of laughter. "Now, Phoebs, think good thoughts," Prue scolded her good-naturedly. She eyed Rowe Manor. "Let's do it."

The four women took each other by the hand and started up the steps to the manor's front door.

"Piper, Phoebe, and I will go in first," Prue said to Paige. "Then you orb in and hide somewhere." The Witchlighter nodded.

When they reached the stoop, the girls let go of each other and Paige stood back as Prue extended her hand. The gray door blasted open, slamming against the wall inside.

"Go," ordered Prue. The Charmed Ones went in. Paige quickly checked if they were being watched. Seeing no one, she orbed inside the manor and materialized behind a living room sofa. She crouched down and waited.

As her sisters hid in a closet in the foyer, Prue cautiously entered the living room, looking about for the Rowes. She didn't have far to look; the casually dressed warlocks came dashing out of the kitchen, alerted by the banging door. They stopped and glared murderously at the lone witch.

"Well, well," smirked Brendan. "Look who's here."

"I got tired of waiting," Prue replied with a confident smile. "Hope you don't mind the surprise visit."

"Not at all, Prue," said Brendan as Greg and Paul came up beside him. "In fact, I thank you for showing me that the Rowe Coven was my true path." His eyes blazed. "But enough talk."

"Agreed," Prue said and swung her arm in a wide arc, flinging the brothers into a wall.

Her sisters bolted from the closet and to her side. The Charmed Ones yanked out the vials out of their pouches and hurled them at the warlocks. Paul leaped to his feet, deflecting the vials back at the witches with his force shield. Piper flicked her hand, instantly freezing them in mid-flight.

As Paul retracted his shield, Brendan and Greg scrambled to their feet. The trio extended their hands, energy balls blossoming in their palms. They hurled them at the Halliwells -- and the balls crashed into the hovering potion vials. The huge explosion savagely flung the Charmed Ones and the Rowe Coven into opposite walls.

The Witchlighter ran out from behind the couch to see her sisters on the floor, lying sprawled on top of each other. From where she was, she could see that Prue's breathing was labored. Piper lay beside her, groaning in pain as she clutched her side. Phoebe lay unconscious on the other side of Prue.

"Oh God," breathed Paige as she knelt beside them. Then she heard a growl and turned to see Greg Rowe stagger to his feet. With a roar he shot out his hand, his palm glowing crimson. She held up her own hand to orb him back into the wall -- and nothing happened.

_Damn!_ she thought. _I forgot I'm only a Whitelighter here._

An energy bolt blasted from Greg's hand. Paige ducked, the lethal power sizzling over her head and crashing somewhere behind her. Grabbing Piper's foot and Phoebe's arm, she orbed all three sisters out of Rowe Manor before Greg could fire another bolt.

**(X)**

"Almost done, Prue," said Paige gently, moving her glowing hands over the eldest Halliwell's body. "Just sit tight." Prue smiled up at her from the floor of Magic School's Great Hall, her breathing becoming less and less labored.

The other Halliwell pair stood by, wincing every time their sister let out a groan. Piper folded her arms and stared at the floor. "I'm just grateful that nothing worse happened. Those potions are meant to kill. If they had come into contact with any of us..." She stopped with a shudder.

"They didn't," Phoebe said. "We were lucky."

"Only because the Rowe brothers exploded those vials," replied Piper, "and Paige was there to orb us to safety."

Phoebe couldn't argue with that last point. During the past nine years, each Charmed sister had come perilously close to death. And each time their Whitelighters, Leo and Paige, had kept them from taking that final step. How many witches could say that?

Phoebe looked over at the Witchlighter. "How's it coming, Paige?"

"I'll be fine in another minute or so," Prue grunted before her half-sister could answer. "I want you and Piper to go home and round up everyone. Bring them here."

"Magic School forbids mortals being here," Phoebe said, raising her eyebrows.

"Screw the rules," Prue snapped. "Get our families up here. Now."

Phoebe's face burned; she had unwittingly placed rules and regulations over the lives of their loved ones. And Prue's reprimand made her feel like the family screw-up once more.

Piper wrapped a supportive arm around Phoebe's shoulders, and produced a vial of teleportation potion from the inside pocket of her jacket. "Back in a couple," she said and dropped the vial onto the floor. It shattered at their feet, and the pair vanished in a smoky column.

Paige's hands stopped glowing. "All done," she said, smiling as she stood.

"Thanks," Prue said, sitting up and taking some deep breaths. "I thought that was going to take forever."

"Well, you were right to insist that I heal Piper and Phoebe first. To be honest, I was afraid I was going to lose them both, especially Phoebe."

Paige helped her sister to her feet and to a nearby couch to rest.

"But Piper was also right," said Prue as she sat down. "We're lucky that blast only knocked us out, and even luckier that you were there. Otherwise, we'd be goners by now."

Paige flashed on her Ultimate Battle and shuddered. It was more frightening to see her sisters being thrown around than of being tossed about herself. She quickly banished the memory. "What's our next move?"

"After Piper and Phoebe arrive with our families, we'll plan our strategy," Prue said. "But I can say this: We'll need an edge if we're to defeat the Rowe Coven."

"Should we call Billie to help us out?"

Prue shook her head. "No, she shouldn't have any part in this; she's done enough for us. And this isn't anyone's fight but ours, so no charges and no Magical Community. Only us Halliwells."

Paige smiled. This was a world she didn't want to leave, a world with the Charmed Ones, her husband, and her beautiful daughter. Yes, they still fought evil, but it was easier with four sisters to take care of such things. And this was seemingly their final battle with the dark powers anyway.

Approaching footsteps made Prue and Paige turn to the entrance. "Here's everybody," Piper announced as she entered the room with Leo and their two sons. Behind them came Phoebe, Coop, and their daughter Melinda, who held on to her father's hand.

An orb cloud materialized beside Piper, coalescing into Henry and Samantha. "Great job, Sammie," Henry praised the smiling child. "You brought Daddy right to Mommy and Auntie Prue."

Prue looked around. "Not quite everybody. Where's Andy and Aaron?"

As if on cue, both entered the Great Hall. The little boy looked around in wide-eyed wonder, but his father wasn't happy with his new residence, temporary though it was.

"Prue, I can't be here," Andy protested as he approached her with their son. "I have a job to do."

"It's for your safety and Aaron's," Prue said firmly, folding her arms. "We don't want the Rowe Coven attacking our loved ones to get to us."

A grinning Piper waved a finger at him. "I practically had to threaten you to get you to come."

"And I thought being part of a magical family was going to be dull," Andy said drolly, eyeing his sister-in-law in mock wariness.

"She did what she had to do," Prue said, unable to suppress a smile at the exchange. She turned to her sisters. "Let's plan our next move."

The Halliwells exited the Great Hall, entered an empty classroom, and sat down at a table. "We have to come up with something better," Piper started the conversation. "That potion literally threw us off." She looked at Phoebe. "We didn't even have a chance to use the spell we had chosen."

"So, any ideas?" Prue asked, and her sisters stared at her. "Hey, don't look at me like that," she protested. "I'm not always the one brimming with ideas. The only thing I can think of is using our powers on the Rowes. When we've weakened them enough, we vanquish them with the spell. Other than that, I don't know how we should go about this."

"Maybe I can help," a melodious voice suddenly said.

The quartet looked about the empty room in surprise. "Mom?" breathed Paige, her heart leaping.

A woman entered the classroom, she was a softly glowing form of an auburn-haired, dark-eyed woman in a full-length white skirt, a tan peasant blouse, and matching sandals. In her arms was a large, green tome.

"Mom!" exclaimed four delighted Halliwells.

Patty Halliwell smiled lovingly "Hello, girls," she said in a gentle, echoing voice.

"You brought the Book of Shadows from the attic?" said an incredulous Prue.

"Yes, in case demons came to call while you were out," Patty explained, moving closer.

"How did you get here?" Paige asked. "None of us summoned you."

"I used a teleporting spell in the Book to get up here. I may not have your orbing powers, Paige, but I'm more than capable of chanting a few words in order to get to my daughters," the mother defended.

"We're glad you came," Phoebe admitted. "You probably already know that we didn't vanquish the Rowe Coven."

"I figured that when I didn't get my victory call or the victory dinner we planned. What went wrong?" Patty asked.

"The brothers blew up the potion that was meant to destroy them," Piper answered.

"Have you decided your next move?" Patty asked.

"We were beginning to ponder that, Mom," Phoebe answered. She sighed. "We don't feel helpless, just more discouraged than usual."

"I know this is a setback, but you must fight on," Patty said encouragingly. "This is the toughest battle you'll ever encounter, but I have faith in all of you." She looked at her three eldest girls. "You're the Charmed Ones, the most powerful members of the Warren line." She turned towards Paige. "And you're their Whitelighter. Your father taught you that when your sisters are at a low point, it's your job to give them an encouraging speech so they never feel hopeless."

All four sisters listened quietly. Deep down inside, Paige felt cool with her mother's loving lecture, and knew it to be right. She took pride in knowing that she was often called upon to boost her sisters' morale when it sagged.

"You know how much I loved my time-freeze power," Patty continued. "And how I sacrificed it so I could raise all four of you together."

Paige's eyebrows shot up. "You did?" she blurted. "You gave up your power to keep me?"

"Of course I did," her mother replied, blinking in surprise. "My daughters are more important to me than anything. I thought you knew that, Paige."

Prue came to the rescue. "You'll have to forgive her, Mom. She was hit on the head by a crossbow while protecting a charge from a Darklighter."

"I've been a little shaky with the facts all day," Paige added quickly. "Can you tell me the story_ again?"_

Patty nodded. "Very well. The Elders vehemently opposed my loving Sam, but I was determined to keep you, so I had Grams bind all of our powers. If I couldn't have you, I wouldn't even want to be a witch. But when her death unbound them, I pushed you to embrace your destinies to show the Elders that the situation was under control."

"But they always doubted it," Piper groused. "They were a total pain in the ass when it came to my marrying Leo. I'm surprised they didn't clip his wings then and there, though Paige was skilled enough to take up the slack."

"Leo shares his knowledge, which makes him the perfect angelic guide," Phoebe reminded her. "We were lucky the Elders assigned him to us as a Whitelighter instead of letting Paige do it all."

"Which brings us back to my point," Patty said. "This is your Ultimate Battle. None of you are excluded and you must work together if you're to triumph in the end."

"Mom's right," said Paige, nodding. "We have to do this." She thought for a minute and looked at Phoebe. "What about Plan B? With our families safe in Magic School, we can give ourselves the home court advantage by luring the Rowe Coven into Halliwell Manor. We can have a crystal cage all set and waiting in the attic. We already have the spell." A smile spread across her face. "And we should drop the word that I'll be helping out."

Prue grinned. "Looks like we now have a game plan."

"What if they hire a Darklighter to kill you, Paige?" Piper asked. "The Source nearly did, in the battle where we destroyed him. Leo was there to save you, thank heaven." She added hurriedly, "Uh, no pun intended."

"As long as we take care of each other, we'll win," Paige assured her. "Then we can live the way we want, however we want."

Piper brightened considerably "You bet. I'm going to lead a normal life with my boys and husband, and go to sleep every night with both eyes comfortably closed." She turned to Phoebe.

"I'm going to settle down and appreciate what I have," Phoebe said proudly. "I'll prepare Melinda one day for life as a witch, but for now, I just want to enjoy the little things." She looked at Prue.

"I second that, Phoebs. Andy and I will raise Aaron normal to keep his father slightly saner. Later, I'll train him to use his powers to protect innocents. But I want a regular life without demonic interference."

"I'll continue being a Whitelighter," Paige chimed. "I can juggle both work and family responsibilities. But I'll always be there for anyone who needs help."

Patty smiled and nodded approvingly. "Good. I'll have the Book back on the podium when you arrive. It looks as if you didn't need it. Now what are you planning for the Rowe Coven?"

Prue stood, hands resolutely on her hips. "The perfect way to draw them into battle."

**(X)**

The sisters sat in the living room of Halliwell Manor, finished with going over their plan once more. "Time to bait the hook," Prue said. "Set up the crystal cage in the attic. I'll have the Rowe Coven follow my astral self."

"Will do," Phoebe said with a nod. "Use anything to bring them here, even a little cleavage."

"Prue shouldn't mind that. Despite being married to Andy, she did admit that Brendan was cute," Piper smirked. "Except when he put on his warlock face. Not so attractive."

"Very funny," Prue retorted. She turned to Paige. "Would you like a shot at me?"

Paige chuckled. "Pass."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Prue said, grinning. "Ready the crystals and then come back down. We'll engage the Rowe brothers and then lure them into the attic."

She lay down on the couch, shut her eyes, and concentrated. A red flash of power briefly enveloped her, the signal that her soul had left her body.

"Okay, we don't have much time," Piper said, taking charge. "Paige, go upstairs and set the trap. Phoebe and I will stay here in case Prue gets back early."

"No problem," Paige said, and orbed upward in a glowing column.

 **(X)**

  The moment she arrived in the attic, Paige went to the table where the box of crystals sat. She grabbed the box and turned to the spot where she would orb them into a circle. Raising the lid, she commanded, "Crystals! Circle!"

Nothing happened.

"Crystals! Circle!" Paige called again. The stones remained in the box. She looked at them in bewilderment, and then remembered.

"Damn," she said. "I keep forgetting I can't orb things in this timeline. I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

She immediately started walking clockwise in a circle, placing down one crystal after another as she went. In practically no time, she laid a trap comprised of four crystals as equidistant from one another as she could have them. There was one other that she intentionally tossed to the side. They would find a way to activate it as soon as the Rowe Coven had stepped into the trap. She looked at her handiwork, hoping the cage would hold the warlocks long enough for her sisters to chant the spell and vanquish them.

All that was left now was to wait for Prue to return with the Rowe Coven in hot pursuit.

**(X)**

"The trap's set," Paige announced upon orbing back into the living room. She saw Prue still lying unconscious on the couch as Piper and Phoebe hovered over her.

"Thanks, Paige," Piper said. "We're just waiting for Prue to --"

Prue suddenly let out a gasp as a crimson glow flashed through her body. She opened her eyes and looked up at her sisters. "They're coming. Are the crystals ready?"

Piper nodded and extended her hand to help Prue up from the couch. "Ready and waiting. And I assume the Rowe brothers are now completely pissed?"

Prue grinned. "You know it," she said as she got to her feet. "Warlocks hate astral games and I'm the toughest witch in that sport."

Out of the corner of her eye, Paige saw a black-garbed Rowe Coven materialize in the living room, all three brandishing black-handled athamaes. "Uh, guys? Company's here," she said tensely.

Her sisters whirled to face the intruders. "Paige, duck!" Prue shouted. The Witchlighter dropped to the floor as Prue swung an arm, telekinetically flinging Greg Rowe into the air and through the staircase banister with a crash. He landed painfully on the stairs.

"You'll pay for that!" shouted Brendan.

Paul Rowe snarled at Paige, "Did you think we'd forget you?" He extended his hand toward the floor, and a chameleon materialized in an eerie glow. He then sent a a blue wave of power at his pet. The ripple enveloped the lizard, causing it to swiftly grow in size. Paige watched as the creature suddenly stood on two legs and took on human shape. The glow faded to reveal a black-clad man holding an armed crossbow.

"A Darklighter!" hissed Piper. "I knew it!"

Paul jabbed a finger in Paige's direction. "Attack!" he ordered the Darklighter.

She didn't wait for him to obey. She charged at him and aimed a round-house kick that connected with his waist, but the blow barely made him stumble. He retaliated by striking her on the back of her head with his crossbow. She fell to the floor.

"Damn," Phoebe commented. "Twice in one day!"

With an evil smirk, the Darklighter aimed his crossbow at Paige.

"No!" Prue shouted. She waved her hand -- and all four sisters gasped as a violent telekinetic blast hit the Darklighter, exploding his body as well as a few pieces of furniture near him. The blast also threw Paul and Brendan to the floor.

Prue stared at her hand in amazement as Piper and Phoebe gaped at her. "My power," she whispered. "It's finally reached that level."

"And it couldn't have come at a better time," Phoebe said gratefully. "That Darklighter was about to kill Paige. Too bad we won't have much use for it after this battle."

Paige groaned and the Charmed Ones helped her up. "Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm fine," Paige said, rubbing the aching back of her head. She smiled at Prue. "Thanks."

"Hey, no sweat," Prue replied, smiling back. "Like I said; we protect family."

"And now it's my turn," Phoebe said grimly as she noticed Brendan and Paul Rowe getting to their feet. Throwing off her shawl, she rushed at them, levitated about five feet into the air, and delivered a fierce kick to the jaw of each warlock. They collapsed back onto the floor.

But Phoebe was too focused on them to notice a now-recovered Greg Rowe leaping at her from the stairs. "Pheebs, look out!" Piper cried.

The warning came too late. Greg tackled Phoebe and the two crashed to the floor, with Greg straddling her. She struggled to free herself as he raised his athamae to plunge it into her skull.

"No you don't!" shouted Piper. Her hands flashed out, and both warlock and athamae froze in mid-swing, as did his brothers while they were getting to their feet. But she knew there was no time for praise. "They won't stay frozen forever, Phoebe," said Piper warningly, "so you might want to slide out from under there."

Phoebe suddenly grinned. "I'll do you one better." She wiggled out from under the motionless warlock, leveled her heel at him, and kicked him hard in his manhood. The impact made Greg instantly unfreeze and double over with a yelp of pain.

Phoebe stood up, and her sisters joined her just as the Rowe Coven and the rest of the room unfroze.

Brendan and Paul rose to their feet, brushing wood chips off their dark clothing. Enraged that Prue had killed his pet, Paul hurled his athamae at her, but Piper swiftly exploded it in mid-flight with a flick of her wrist. She thrust out both hands to vanquish Paul, but he activated his force shield and deflected the blast back at Piper, sending her into the coffee table behind her.

"Piper!" cried Prue. Paige was already kneeling beside the prostrate Charmed One, running her glowing hands along Piper's body, as her concerned older sisters ran over to them.

"Enough screwing around!" Brendan shouted as he and Greg extended their force-shields as well. To the sisters' horror, the warlocks morphed into their true selves: Their heads and ears darkened and lengthened, their noses became broad, ridges and warts appeared on their faces, and their teeth and nails became long and sharp.

Paige shuddered. "Ew, they're ugly!" she said as Piper, now fully healed, regained consciousness and sat up. She froze when she found herself gazing into three pairs of pale, slitted warlock eyes.

"Not attractive," she said grimly. "And I've never been able to freeze them when they're in that state."

"Time to head upstairs," Prue said, her voice tense.

"We second, third, and fourth that motion," replied Phoebe as Piper and Paige stood.

"Oh, you want to run?" Brendan sneered. "We were just getting ready."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Phoebe taunted. "Drop your shields."

"We have a better idea," smirked Paul, and the Rowe brothers charged through their shields, disintegrating them.

"Paige, now!" Prue ordered, grabbing hands with Piper and Phoebe. The Witchlighter took hold of Piper's shoulder and the quartet dissolved in an orb cloud.

"They're headed for the attic!" shouted Greg. "After them!"

**(X)**

Prue grinned when she saw the trap ready and waiting as she and her sisters came out of orb in the attic. "I see we're good to go," she said.

Paige nodded. "Once the Rowe Coven is inside, slide that last crystal into place and we'll have them."

"Let's get ready," said Piper. "They'll be right --" Before she could complete her sentence, the three warlocks blinked into the attic and directly in back of the Charmed Ones.

"Behind you -- literally!" shouted Paige.

The sister witches elbowed their pursuers in the abdomen and followed Paige as she raced toward the crystal cage and through it. They turned to see the Rowe Coven coming after them in a tightly bunched group, just as they had hoped. Prue waited until all three were in the cage before telekinetically moving the last crystal into place with her eyes. A white energy shield ejected from each crystal, and the now-trapped warlocks collided with the power and fell back within the circle.

"NO!" Brendan roared. He and his brothers tried to punch their way out of the cage, screaming in pain when they could only electrocuted themselves.

"You shouldn't have been so eager," Paige smirked, "especially since we had home-field advantage."

Standing between her older sisters, Phoebe produced the vanquishing spell from the rear pocket of her jeans. Paige stood off to one side, watching and yearning to join them as they chanted, "_Warlock foes, your days are done,  As we three say this spell as one,  No more shall Rowe Coven grow,  We vanquish you to Hell below!"_

The cage glowed with deadly power. The warlocks stared at their feet in terror, where flames suddenly exploded into being. "No, no, no!" they shrieked as the fire climbed their bodies, incinerating their clothes and skin. They desperately tried to beat it out with their hands, to no avail. The fire reached their necks and finally raced upward, consuming them. The screams of the warlocks were muffled by a great sphere of flame filling the cage, and when it dissipated, nothing remained of Greg, Paul, or Brendan Rowe, just a cloud of smoke that vanished within a matter of seconds.

The Charmed Ones took a deep breath of relief and smiled at one another. "We did it," Phoebe sighed happily.

"You bet we did," said Prue, placing an arm around Piper and Phoebe's shoulders. "We're the Power of Three." She turned to Paige. "Plus one," she added proudly.

The Witchlighter gave a radiant grin. Prue gestured for her to join them, which she did for a triumphant group hug.

**(X)**

The next morning, Paige still found herself in this alternate universe. She stayed in the manor that night with Piper and Prue's families. The manor was Piper's home, but Prue and Andy found it to be too much of hassle to head home after an overwhelming battle. Paige was grateful for the extra time with Prue, but they all had eventually gone to sleep.

Paige and Piper were currently sitting at the dining room table enjoying their coffee. This situation was very similar to that of her Ultimate Battle where the three sisters triumphed over their battle. This battle seemed more fulfilling for Paige, despite not knowing if this world was just a rewarding simulation. This time her friend wasn't hurt with the loss of a sister and they were able to bask in their glory with no guilt.

"I wonder what's taking Prue so long to get up," Piper pondered with Paige. "She's always been the first one up and last one down."

"I think I might've taken the Last One Down Award last night," Paige replied. Her sister shot her a questionable stare and Paige continued, "I was just up thinking about things."

"Like what?" Piper asked, taking a sip of her coffee from her black mug.

"Uh, where we really go from here now," Paige lied. "It's just strange that we'll be coming together a little less without being called to duty."

Piper nodded understandably, "I'm sure that it won't become that bad. I do admit that it seems possible that we may drift slightly, but you know we're going to be calling each other to say the smallest thing. We'll be fine, Paige."

Phoebe then walked in from the kitchen with a piece of buttered toast on a small plate. She scanned the table and said, "Prue is just taking her sweet time, isn't she? I'm surprised she didn't wake up when Andy left to the park with the guys and kids." She then joined her sisters at the table.

Footsteps were then heard coming down the steps and Prue turned the corner into the dining room with the Book of Shadows pressed against her chest. She smiled at her sisters as she set the Book down at the head of the table, "Morning."

Piper looked at her watch and said, "Or so you think its morning. It's noon, Prue. Phoebe had to come from her loft and was awake before you."

Prue chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, I lost track of time. I've been awake, I was just up in the attic just sitting with the Book of Shadows. It was strange flipping through the pages, seeing the past demons and recounting what we went through to win those battles."

Paige smiled as she had a feeling where this was going. She decided to push upon it, "So why did you bring the Book down? It's not to fight a demon, is it?"

The eldest smiled at her baby sister, "No, it's not. We've all been through a lot with nine years of fighting against Evil and I figured we would better prepare the generations that come after us. It's no doubt that we wouldn't have made it this far without the help of our ancestors and I don't want future witches..." she turned to Paige, "And Whitelighters of our line to not know how to handle a situation."

"So what exactly are you proposing we do?" Piper asked.

"We write down everything we want them to know. Even if it's something that occurred with our personal lives, we just leave our marking in time and tell our story," Prue answered. "Who we are, what we did and through time we'll keep adding little bit by little bit until it's time to pass down the Book to its next owner."

Phoebe gave a toothy grin, "I think our kids are going to be having a duel or two to get their hands on that Book. I say we push the idea of sharing while they're young a little more to avoid any future incidents. But for now, I'd like to start with writing an entry. Is that fine with everyone else?"

Piper took ahold of the tome and passed it along to Phoebe. "I hold no objection."

"Have at it," Paige said.

Prue slid out a pen from her pocket and rolled it across the table. "We'll give you some time to do this and I'm going to have some breakfast. If only there was a chef in the house..."

Piper smirked, "Scrambled or fried?" She stood up and Prue wrapped her arm around her. "Or are you thinkin' omelet?"

"Thatta girl," Prue responded. She turned back to Paige and asked, "You coming?"

"I actually think I'm going to just sit outside on the porch. I just need some time to myself to think things over," Paige said.

Prue and Piper nodded. "Well if you change your mind, we'll be in there as Phoebe writes away in here." The two then left for the kitchen as Phoebe was turning the pages to a fresh spot to start her entry.

Paige turned on her heel and left through the front door. She walked to the steps and just sat down. She had a strange feeling that the worst was about to happen. Her time with this world was coming to an end.

**(X)**

Close to an hour later, Prue called from inside the manor. Paige jumped to her feet and headed back inside where she saw her sister standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Okay, Phoebe went, Piper went and I just finished. We'll be upstairs helping Piper clean the attic," Prue announced. "She's cringing at the fact that it's still a little messy from yesterday, but she's happy knowing that it might just stay clean now."

"I bet she is," the Witchlighter replied. "I'll head on upstairs when I'm done."

Prue smiled and jogged up the steps.

Paige walked over to the table and saw the Book was still lying open with the pen in-between the crease. She pulled it out and curiosity got the best of her. She flipped all the way back to Phoebe's initial page. There were pages left blank between all the entries and Paige figured it to be reserved room for future add-ons. And then she spotted Phoebe's page...

_So much has happened over the last nine years. So much has been gained and lost. But in the end, I feel as if all of our lives are at a new beginning... And it is. For I have loved before, but I've never truly known love until I met Coop. He's a man that has ended my search for love and helped me bring our daughter Melinda Penelope Halliwell into this world. She was long ago foreseen, but I had feared I'd never have her. I was so blessed to have an addition to an already strong family and now life without demons will open up new roads for me. For instance, I'll be allowed to devote more of my time to my family and work. I might be finished with protecting Innocents, but that doesn't mean that I'm done with helping others who need my advice._

_Being the protectors of the Innocent has introduced us to wonderful people. Some of our best times were when we would be able to learn about the life of an Innocent and although it may be tough to introduce them to magic, if they're in the dark, it's necessary. Magic is something I wish could be open to the world, but the truth is that there are people who aren't ready for it and that has to be taken into consideration._

_But to the witches and Whitelighters who read this, embrace your gifts. Times are going to be tough, don't expect an easy going lifestyle just because you're magical. While magic may have perks, it has responsibility that overcoats the fun. Remember the important lesson of how you're powers are linked with your emotions. If you're in control of yourself, you have the power to do anything._

_The most important of Wiccan rules would be to avoid personal gain. Don't take advantage of your magic, cherish it. It can bring you the greater things in life. I have my husband and daughter to prove that to me._

The Witchlighter smiled upon finishing the entry. It was very similar to the one that Phoebe started in her world and Phoebe had been keeping up with her promises as well. The major difference about this entry was about her daughter Melinda and Phoebe's lessons. Paige turned the pages again and saw Piper's entry and read:

_Our Ultimate Battle was a success. This has been a long fought battle for us and we've finally achieved what I hope to be a relaxing victory. At this point in time, we figure that the demons won't be resurfacing to challenge us after we defeated the greatest force of evil to ever exist. It took the four of us to do it, but it's done nonetheless and now I can begin to plan a life that I've chased after for some time now; a normal one._

_I'm positive that Leo is going to continue with his duties as Magic School's Headmaster. He has decades of knowledge and what it takes to reach out to these children. He's a fantastic father to our two boys, always has been, and together we will educate our children about the life of a mortal and the good things magic can offer, as well as the negative aspect. Together Leo and I can do this, for he may be a mortal now, his teachings will leave him immortal in the hearts of our family and the students he educated._

_As for me, I'm finally going to have the time needed to pay attention to my restaurant. It's time I put my cauldron away and consistently cook something other than potions for once. This is a dream that I'm living and now I'll be able to enjoy it without demonic interruptions. This dream is all the more rewarding because of my life as a Charmed One. Knowing that my sisters and I have saved lives of countless Innocents and how their lives changed afterwards is something I'll always remember with being a witch._

Paige finished reading and smiled at yet another entry. Back in her world, Piper started her entry off with things she'd like to achieve such as eventually opening a restaurant. In this world Piper already had that, but apparently has been granted more time to tend to it. The Witchlighter took a deep breath as she turned the pages for Prue's entry. She was sure that this was going to freshest of entries. She found Prue's page and admired the handwriting as Prue's penmanship was a delicate script.

_Being a witch has never been a severe issue for me. My sisters and I endured great trials and tribulations, but as always, I knew I had my duty to watch over them. We've had each other's backs since we were children and that was a trait that had to remain stronger than ever with the added threats we encountered as witches. Nine years later, we're all alive and were successful in protecting the Innocent. It wasn't a job we asked for, but it was a job that we were destined to do and we all had our moments where we wanted to throw in the towel, but when a demon is running loose there is no waving a white flag. It'd be easier to put our needs before others and despite how seductive our needs may be, being a witch is an opportunity to do great things. I feel that my being a witch only made me stronger. It can do the same for others._

_Unlike my sisters, I didn't meet the man I love through duty as a witch. Andy Trudeau has been my love for years and while it took him a while to accept magic for what it is, he was yet another example of a mortal with the capability of understanding magic's greatness. He once asked me, under very special circumstances, what would become of our children? I was still a freshman witch and I myself was under the impression that if we had a girl, she would be a witch, but a son would be mortal. I was mistaken, but I couldn't be happier for our son, Aaron Andrew Trudeau. He's our gift to the world as he is the eldest Halliwell of the Charmed children. We'll raise him with the safe life of a mortal endowed with the knowledge of a witch. Those precautions will keep him safe and knowing that he knows how to protect himself with his psychokinetic abilities helps me breathe cooly through each day._

_The time will come for Aaron and his four cousins to take over the fight. We'll prepare them to the best of our abilities. I'm counting on Aaron to be able to protect his family and as long as I'm capable, I'm willing to stand by him for when he's starting out. My sisters and I took out some of the greater threats this world should ever see. There is always a chance for a new power to rise up to pose a great threat, but Warren Witches have the ability to overcome it._

_An important lesson I'd like to present to those who read this would be about the value of your life. With magic comes a chance of an early death and that is why I advise that you embrace each day for what it is. You might be battling a demon one day and think you have the power to defeat him, but one wrong move may cost you your life. Keep this lesson close to your heart if you're to live long enough to one day be able to add to this Book with your own lessons and experiences._

And that was all Prue wrote. Paige was tearing as she again realized how much she missed out on without having her big sister in her life. Life could've been different. It wasn't horrible now, but it would be easier and this was a life she always had a desire to own. She then turned to see Prue, Piper and Phoebe staring at her from the doorway. Paige hadn't heard any footsteps, but began to feel a great pull towards the door.

Paige hovered off of her seat and glided towards her sisters in the greatest of confusion. The door swung open and Paige's body continued to soar through the house and magically made her vacate the manor. Prue stepped closer to the door and Paige had a feeling she was getting ready to pull her back with her powers, but she didn't. Prue extended her finger and telekinetically swung the door close on Paige as the Witchlighter was consumed in a golden glow.

Paige Halliwell left this world.

**(X)**

The golden glow reappeared in the hallway of Magic School, in front of the door that brought Paige into this world. She looked from the left and then to the right, confused. She did see Henry during her shift, but he wasn't who she was searching for. "Prue..." she whispered. She then put her hands on her head and dropped onto her bottom.

Henry ran to her side and kneeled down besides Paige and cupped her chin with his hand, "There you go. Are you alright?"

Paige nodded intensely to her sides and pushed her head back, removing it from Henry's hand. "I have to go back. How did I... Why did it end... Why?" She jumped to her feet and grabbed the knob and pushed the door open, waiting to be pulled into that world again. But nothing. An ordinary classroom was there. She took a few steps back and said with teary eyes, "I want to go back, Henry. Everything was good there...We were happy, our daughter was happy... And beautiful." She took a deep breath. "I love my life now, but things were set for us there."

Henry took ahold of her arms and said, "Calm down. Honey, calm down. The Elders told me you'd need some recovering after what you just went through, but wanted me to help you understand that this world has much promise as well. I'm still kinda lost as to what happened with you though."

A tear finally managed to escape Paige's eyes and slid down her cheek at a speed impossible to catch. She ignored his question and said, "It's just not fair to do that to me. To show me a world that could've been... And then to take it away? It's not fair."

"The Elders wanted me to tell you something else as well..." he knew his wife was very attentive now. "A new opportunity awaits you now. I personally have no idea what it is, but they have faith that you'll figure it out. _I_ have faith you'll figure it out."

Paige just stared at him. She just experienced a world of change and now was about to change her own.

**End of Chapter.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please be sure to leave top-notch reviews, if possible. In this next chapter, you'll see more of this chapter's very special guest star along with how Paige deals with it. Also, more about Henry's life will be revealed.**

**Final note, I'd like to thank Brandon (Temporal Death) for helping me work some bits together. Ross, for giving me some advice on how to better my entries and my great editor Patricia. You guys helped make this chapter better. Thanks.**


	11. Deathly Halliwell

**A/note: I'm glad to have such great support for the last chapter. It's still my personal favorite to date. And now here's an aftermath of that chapter, along with the opportunity given to Paige upon returning home. **

**Chapter 11- Deathly Halliwell**

_**October 11th, 2006**_

It was early morning as Henry Mitchell entered his house with two brown paper bags grasped tightly between his arms. The bags were heavy and he seemed to had pulled a magic trick of his own getting the door open, leaving the keys in the lock as he proceeded into the Mitchell-Matthews manor. He crouched down, placing the bags on the floor and exhaled a sharp breath of relief. Henry rubbed his shoulder for a few seconds, wearing away the pain that came with carrying these bags. He was surprised the bags themselves hadn't collapsed from the bottom yet due to the poor support that usually came with paper bags. He turned around to pull the key out of the door, closing it behind him.

He tucked his keys into his black leather jacket as he overlooked the bags on the floor. He waved his hand, amusing himself and said, "Bags...Kitchen!" Nothing happened. "It was worth a try." Henry bent over, cradled the bags into his arms and walked over to the kitchen. Once he reached his destination, the mortal placed them down on the island and took another sharp breath. "Damn groceries."

Henry turned on his heel, walked out of the kitchen and called out, "Paige? I'm back!" He took a hold of the dark brown oak banister and jogged up the steps. He walked through the second floor hallway and directly into their bedroom and to no avail in locating his wife. "She wasn't in the kitchen...certainly not in here...she must be in the..."

Henry left the bedroom and walked to the altar room, giving two gentle knocks while pushing open the door. He spotted his wife sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, legs folded, elbows bent and fingers completely immobile. Relieved to see his wife, he walked in. "Did you hear me calling for you?"

Paige opened her eyes and her arms dropped onto her legs. "No, I didn't. Sorry. When did you get back?" The witch began to pick herself up from the floor and Henry rushed to her side and assisted.

The Charmed One was wearing an all white nightgown that ran down to her knees with her dark brown hair resting on her shoulders. A small bump was more visible then ever with the white nightwear. "Thanks," Paige said, in regards to Henry helping her up.

"I got back a couple of minutes ago," Henry answered her initial question. "All the stuff you asked for is downstairs. Want me to cook something up for you? Perhaps a Mitchell omelet?"

"No, thanks," Paige said. "I'm just continuing my search and trying to tap into the baby's power to help me concentrate."

"On what?"

"On a way to summon my sister from the dead," Paige said. "You told me the Elders said an opportunity was now available to me. This has to be it."

"Why don't you focus on the other thing they told you a couple of days ago? Getting your powers back?" Henry suggested.

"No," she simply replied. "I finally have an opportunity to meet Prue and I plan on seizing it before they pull that away from me. Besides, their only suggestion was me helping charges and it's pretty damn hard for me to do that when I can't hear their calls. Also, they said there's still a _possibility_ that I won't get my powers back. It's just an idea they're up in the clouds playing around with."

"Fine, but why don't you finally tell your sisters? They might have some clue on this. Maybe the Power of Three," Henry suggested. "No point adding continuous stress going at this alone and worrying about Billie day in and day out."

"Billie's fine...sorta. She told me she's heading out to relax for the day and I don't want to tell Piper and Phoebe with the chance of getting their hopes up and we don't succeed. It's taken them a lot of time to get used to the idea we may never be able to summon Prue. They've made their peace with that or at least I think they have," Paige responded.

She walked over to her podium and rested her palms on the midnight blue cover of her tome. She admired the fine leather and loved how magic was able to create it for her. Moments after creating the magical book, Phoebe had suggested Paige to add some other sort of protection to the Book and Paige came to the idea to use her blood. With some blessing oils and the blood of the first Witchlighter in a probable long line of many, she added stronger protection to the Book.

"What other options do you have if you're not going to tell your sisters?" Henry questioned. "We're your only family, Paige. Just let them help."

Paige had a quick thought before replying, "Wrong. You're not my _only_ family. My father..."

"Sam?" Henry asked. "Paige, I'm not sure if it's the proper timing to be meeting my father-in-law, especially one that hasn't made any effort to see us."

"Don't take offense to that," Paige said, wandering away from her tome. "I met him one day and didn't see him again until three years later, but the point is that he wants to be a part of my life now. Maybe he knows I'll go to him for help. The day I discovered my destiny, I just had this feeling we would be meeting again. This could be why."

"To bring you together with your sister?" Henry asked, slightly skeptical. "And are you going to tell me that this is the same man you want in your life? You told me the stories about how he just pops in, and I bring up the point again, he never made an appearance at or after the wedding."

"He didn't want to show up uninvited and he knows how much I hate that. Our wedding was rushed, I didn't invite a lot of the people who are close to me," Paige said. "I'm more comfortable with where we stand now, but we're not exactly rolling along with the father-daughter relationship I want, otherwise I would've called him. This is besides the point, he's a Whitelighter and I'm sure he visits my mother. He must know something."

"Far be it from me to stop you then," Henry said. "I just wanted to share my views with you as it seems you're just anxious to meet Prue."

"Yeah, I am," Paige said. "She's my sister and I haven't really put up the biggest fight to call her from the dead. Instead, I just tried to live up to her name and do her some honor. I think it's more important now that I've been coming into terms of who I am that I get to know who she is."

Henry smiled at his determined wife. He was in no place to try and stop her, but wanted to protect her heart and hopes. "So how are we going to go about this?"

"We?" Paige repeated.

"I want to help, Paige. In any possible way I can," Henry said. "You could meet your sister and I can meet my sister-in-law and see what she thinks of me." Henry smiled at her some more.

Paige returned the smile, "Thanks for being there. Now the first step to this is summoning my father." The pregnant witch looked up to the ceiling, prepared to call her father from the sky. "Dad?" Paige called out, still awkward to call her father by a title she never really planned for him.

The Mitchell couple continued to look over their shoulders, awaiting Sam Wilder's presence.

"Maybe if you scream it...give it some _umph_," Henry suggested.

"Summonings don't need _umphs_, Henry!" Paige replied. "Maybe he's just..."

A gentle jingle accompanied the flurry of white and blue orbs that appeared a few feet away from the couple. The shape of a man rested within the orbs and when the orbs vanished, Paige's biological father was standing there. Samuel Wilder was of age, but Paige always remembered him to not be one of great youth. His gray hair had darker shades along the side of his head and his blue eyes appeared very welcoming, which was very good when first introducing yourself to a charge. He had on a plaid shirt with a red and gray pattern with yellow lines that separated the two solid colors. He took his hands out of his simple blue jeans and held out his arms. "Hello, Paige."

Paige smiled and was delighted to see her father. She had a good relationship between her adoptive parents that knew of her love for them, but she still wanted to establish a better connection with her actual father. A relationship was definitely possible and her sisters were living proof of that, having patched up issues with their father. Paige stepped forward and joined his arms, enclosing his back with her own. When the hug was over, Paige stepped back.

"Dad..." Paige felt awkward again and that halted her from introducing Henry. She spotted her father smile.

"Paige, you can call me by my name. I know I tried to push it upon you before, but I realize that was wrong," he then ran his hand through his gray hair, ashamed, "Your mother helped me in realizing that."

"Thanks," Paige gratefully replied. "Sam, this is my husband..." Paige nodded towards Henry, "Henry."

Henry walked past Paige and shook his father-in-law's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet your, Sir."

"Likewise, Henry." Sam said, taking back his hand. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you..." he then turned to Paige, "And you a little better."

Paige smiled. This day was going pretty well so far. "Do you know what I'm calling you here for?"

"I believe I have some idea," Sam answered. "Prue?"

"Nailed it." Paige replied. "Are you also informed of about my trip to another world? The one where you became a hero in my eyes."

"A hero? Really?" Sam replied. "I know about your stumble into that world. Roles tend to change in that world, people tend to live that were originally dead and vice versa. The world has no set definition as magic tends to play around in it. Your mother, grandmother and sister know that you were in there and in trying to see what you saw were only able to find out that it was just a world where you grew up with your sisters."

"Yeah, it was a pretty powerful experience," Paige stated. "You died for Mom. Her death was replaced with yours."

Sam stood quiet. After a few seconds, he nodded once, "I wish that was the actual world we lived in now. I tried to create that world, but she froze me..." He resumed silence.

"See? The world has that effect on you and I just gave you sample," Paige quipped. "I cried myself to sleep as lame as that sounds."

"It wasn't lame," Henry comforted. "It was understandable. You experienced something that has probably had you wondering since you met your sisters. Once you started getting used to it, it was ripped from you."

"Well put," Sam agreed. "I don't know whether or not I should apologize for you experiencing that or if I should be happy for you. Are you content with the world?"

"It's fifty-fifty," Paige said. "It's just put such a toll on me. I have a Darklighter that wants me dead, I lost a charge to said Darklighter, my friend Billie is trying to find her supposed-to-be-dead sister and my promise to her is being broken all because of this. I need to see my sister and I think that will give me the proper closure on the world."

"Is there anything else that bothers you about it?" Sam asked.

There was something else bothering Paige. It wasn't something she hadn't even admitted to Henry yet, something that she was only bottling up. It was time to uncap those suppressed emotions. "A huge factor of this world was the fact that I was able to grow up with my sisters and that meant that you and Mom didn't give me up. Instead, Mom sacrificed her powers, which is why you saved her. She was powerless. Was I not worth her powers in this world? She ended up dying a year later anyway. Maybe if she would've given up her powers, she would've lived. Wasn't I worth it...?"

Both Paige and Sam, mainly the witch, were on the verge of tears. It was becoming so emotional that Henry leaned back against a wall, looking down, not bearing enough strength to interrupt this conversation. His wife needed a straight answer.

"Of course you were worth it, Paige," Sam said. "Its just that...the circumstances got to us and we weren't thinking clearly. You have to remember though that the altered world made things easier so you could have the life that deep down you wanted. If we would've thought that your mother losing her powers would've been of any good, I'm sure she would've agreed to it quickly. I would've given my powers up as well."

Paige quickly rubbed her eyes and tried to pass off the tense situation with a smile. "So, uh...how about that Prue?" She forced a light chuckle.

"Honey, don't fight it," Henry said, knowing that his wife had a tendency to hide her emotions.

"Forget it, I'm fine," Paige refused. "How do I contact Prue, Sam?" Paige folded her arms, her lips occasionally trembled.

"You simply summon her," Sam said. "She's now accessible to respond to your call. The Elders realized that you need this opportunity now, but wanted me to speak with you first before doing so."

"Fantastic. I was scared that I was going to have to do some ritual," Paige exhaled, relieved. "I should go and get dressed and start heading over to the manor to tell Piper. We can call Phoebe from there."

"I'm sorry, but no," Sam said. "Piper and Phoebe aren't allowed to share this experience with you as unfortunate as it is for them. This is one that you're supposed to experience alone, which is why Henry will be coming with me."

"What? I'm not leaving her!" Henry protested.

"Listen, son, I'm not even allowed to stay here with her," Sam informed.

"You're in no place to compare yourself with me!" Henry replied, his tone raising. "I know her better than you ever will."

"Henry, calm down. Please," Paige pleaded. "Just go with him. You know how much this opportunity means to me and I'll be fine. It's not as if Prue is a demon or something that I'm being left with. She's my sister." Paige walked over to Henry and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and patted his chest. "Now go. Teach my father a thing or two about me."

That brought comfort to Henry and calmed him down. He was well aware that Paige understood that he knew more about her than her father, but the acknowledgment is what made him agree. "Where are we going?"

"I have a place in mind," Sam said, making his way over to Henry and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Paige." On that note, Sam orbed away with his son-in-law.

Paige walked in front of the circle of candles she already had set up from previous attempts at summoning Prue. She grabbed a candle flicker and walked around the five white candles clock-wise, breathed on the initial fire and extinguished it from the flicker. She took a step back and her heart began to pound fast. She placed her hands over her growing stomach and chanted slowly.

_Hear these words...Hear my cries,_

_Spirit from the Other Side,_

_Come to me...I summon thee,_

_Cross now...the Great...Divide_

The young witch stopped breathing as she saw a series of white and gold spheres coalesce within the circle. As the spheres closed in on each other, Paige feared that they were just going to jump apart from each other and return to the afterlife. But they didn't. The spheres combined together and created a glow from the middle of the air that both rose up and fell down. A golden silhouette remained and when the glow faded, the legendary Prue Halliwell was standing there with a smile on her face, her arms along her sides and clad in a black sleeveless shirt with a white dress that made it hard to see the matching sandals. Her brown hair was cascading over her shoulders and had gotten longer since death, but the thing that got to Paige the most was how her sister was a spirit as she hadn't stepped through the candles yet.

Paige's heart beat continued to pound against her chest as the two sisters who never met before just stared at one another, not uttering a word.

Finally, Prue took the initiative and walked through the circle of candles, her body began to solidify, but never took her icy blue eyes off of her sister. "So...we got a lot of catching up to do, don't we?"

Paige remained silent. She wasn't regretting this, but wished she was a bit more prepared and knew what to say. A part of her wanted to hug her sister, but the other part felt that it was inappropriate. She remained immobilized.

"Come on, Paige, it takes two people to have a conversation," Prue said, trying to break the silence. "I know there aren't any real needs for introductions, but we're an unfortunate case of stranger sisters. I'm hoping we can change that today."

"I'm Paige..." the young Charmed One managed to get out. It was obvious and she regretted it, which showed to Prue through Paige's pale cheeks blushing a rosy red tone.

Prue chuckled, "Should I come back in five when you have your wits together?" Prue grinned at Paige.

"Can we maybe forget about that?" Paige asked, warming into the conversation.

"Deal." Prue said. The eldest Halliwell sister extended her hand out to Paige, "I'm sorry if this insults you, but I just want to get a better feeling of who you are on a personal level. Surely I've watched over my sisters and you, but that doesn't mean I _know_ you. Not yet, at least."

Paige smiled and returned the handshake, feeling comfortable with it for now. "Shaking hands is appropriate considering our stranger status right now. I'm really honored to meet you, Prue."

Prue returned her hand to her side and her grin never dropped. "You too, Paige. It's unfortunate that I had to meet you while being...dead. I'm just glad you were able to help my..." Prue stopped. "_Our_ sisters after my death."

"I wish things were different. Like they were in that world..." Paige started. "You wouldn't have died had I been around."

"Everything happens for a reason, Paige," Prue said. "Or at least that's what Grams and Mom told us countless times."

"I've gone through my fair share of that speech with the Elders as well," Paige chuckled. She was actually having a casual conversation with her sister.

"So, Paige..." Prue started. "The Elders knew that you'd be able to call me from the dead. The time had finally come for me to make some appearance, and despite my being happy to see you, I just want to run and see my sisters despite restrictions."

"Well, walking to the manor is a good hour walk and Phoebe's place is another pretty damn long walk," Paige said, but Prue just looked down at the floor. "Would you like me to maybe pass along a message?"

"No." Prue replied. "They know I love them. I just want to hug them again and just have an ordinary conversation with them over morning coffee."

"I can only imagine how hard it must be," Paige said. "If it's any consolation I haven't had breakfast yet and I'd be happy to go downstairs and make you some."

"I'm not exactly hungry, but I can see that you're eating for two..." Prue stared at the bump on Paige's stomach. "Let's go make sure my niece or nephew and her mother have a well balanced breakfast."

The young witch smiled. "Yeah, let's go and do that."

**(X)**

Henry and Sam walked along a dusty road passing several trees along the way. The morning sun was still beaming, not letting the autumn trees get in their way. It was a warm morning as well, the warmest in a week or so. The two men continued to walk down the dusty trail, leaving their footprints behind them and turned a corner and Henry took in the scene.

There was a wooden dock with two red motor boats tied to the wooden railings. Inside the boats were two paddles in each that rested along the edges of the boat as the waves continued to knock against the dock.A house was on the opposite side, not having any of its usual residents in years. 

"Alright, so what is this place?" Henry asked, tired of the silence between the two, but was enjoying the serenity of the place. "Any reason for our coming here?"

"This is my home," Sam said. "I lived here for years after Paige's mother died here and I remained here to protect those from the demon that lived in the lake. I don't believe even Paige knows this of me yet. Even after Paige's sisters came and vanquished the demon, I died and was reborn once again and I returned here."

"Why return here? You've had bad memories of her mother dying and you even died here. I would stay away from this place since it only would remind me of death," Henry said. He walked closer to the dock and picked up a couple of rocks from the ground.

"I return here for many reasons; silence to have time to myself after aiding to a charge, the memories of all the death I've seen as a reminder of why I continue to fight and give it my all..." Sam said, nearing Henry with his hands folded behind his back. "And for that homely feeling I've created with being here so long. In my cabin, I have even more reminders with the newspaper articles of the deaths here and with negatives, there are positives."

During Sam's explanation, Henry was throwing rocks into the lake, interrupting the gentle waves with ripples in different areas from the bouncing rocks. He clutched his fist around the remaining rocks in his possession, not so tight so he wouldn't hurt his hand, but tight enough so he could continue throwing those rocks later. For now, he would listen to his father in-law.

"Care to hear what the positives are?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," he simply replied.

"That'll wait. I shared something with you that was personal, something that my daughter doesn't know," Sam said, catching a look from Henry that spoke words, "...and I understand that I haven't been around long enough to tell her about who I am, but this is something I would share with her later. Now I'd like you to share something with me."

"Alright, I'll bite," Henry said. "I'm adopted. Happy?" Henry threw another rock into the lake that skipped three times through the water and fell to the depths of the lake.

"Actually, no," Sam admitted. "That was something I already knew. I think I have a better request. Tell me something Paige doesn't know about you..."

Henry dropped all rocks at Sam's request. He turned to Sam. "Something Paige doesn't know about me..."

**(X)**

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Paige asked her eldest sister as eggs continued to scramble on the frying pan. She flipped the eggs around with her gray spatula and turned back to Prue.

"I'm fine," Prue answered. "I didn't come down here to taste your cooking, but thanks for offering."

"I doubt I would've impressed you anyway," Paige admitted, letting the eggs settle and took a seat at the table across from her sister, folding her hands on her aqua blue table mat. "So I hear that my magical trip reached your ears."

"It sure did," Prue said. "It's a world that I've been thinking about myself ever since Mom and Grams told me about you. I have a question of my own; what was it like?"

"I didn't want to leave, Prue. I love the life I have going here, but it was just perfect there. You could tell that we were all close as sisters. A huge negative about it was that I wasn't a Charmed One. It was just you three and I was just the Whitelighter sister," Paige explained.

"I hope we didn't make you feel as if you weren't important," Prue said. "I'm sure we appreciated what you contributed to the group."

"You guys sincerely did," Paige said. "I just happened to be the fourth sister that wasn't lucky enough to receive a witch power and only had the talents of casting spells and potions, not that I did any of that there. But my orbing and healing was well appreciated. It's a huge downer that I don't have my Whitelighter powers now."

"We'll get there, Paige," Prue informed. "I even have a little something planned for the two of us. But I want to hear more about your experience before I explain what that world was."

"You know?" Paige asked, getting up to check on her eggs, but she walked backwards awaiting an answer. She finally had to turn around and turned off the oven with a turn of the platinum knob. She scooped up the eggs with her spatula and placed them onto a plate. She grabbed the pepper shaker, shook it over her breakfast and stopped when she felt it was enough. She grabbed a knife and fork and made her way back to the table, setting the plate down beside her glass of orange juice and bottle of ketchup. She finally sat down as Prue answered.

"I've done some studying with Mom and Grams and we learned of what it is. First, back to sharing the experience. What were some of the things that made you want to hold onto that world for dear life?"

"Plenty." Paige answered, cutting her eggs up. "There was you for one example. When I entered the world, I felt as if I just jumped into the body of the Paige that presided before me in that world and those emotions mixed around with those of my own. I was clueless as to what was going on, but knowledge would build in me at random moments. The main attraction to the world was family. Mom was alive, you were alive, we all had children and we were just happy. It was something that we would've given our lives for."

"Mom was alive?" Prue asked. "...And we all had kids? Did I have a child?" Prue placed her elbows on the table and folded her hands together, resting her chin in them, listening intently.

"A boy named Aaron," Paige answered. "He was your only child but he was the eldest of all the Halliwell children."

Prue smiled and placed her hands flat out on the table. "Judging by his name, I would say without a doubt that Andy was the father."

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Paige asked, opening the cap of her ketchup and pouring it on her eggs.

Prue hadn't even taken notice of this as her blue eyes just gazed into a cabinet behind Paige. There was nothing interesting at all about the cabinet itself, but she wasn't really looking at it. She was looking into the future she could've had had she been alive. "Because that's the name of Andy's uncle who meant a great deal to him. He meant so much that it was apparently enough to break the 'P' tradition."

"You were happy," Paige informed, taking a bite from her eggs. She took notice of her sister's face that continued to stare beyond her, until their eyes met again. She chuckled when she saw Prue look down at her meal.

"Ketchup on eggs? Is this a pregnancy craving?" Prue questioned, disgusted at her youngest sister's breakfast.

"This is something my father introduced me to. He used to have it every Saturday morning. My mother wasn't a fan of it either, so he only got to have it when he made the breakfast on the day my mother worked," Paige answered, sharing her life with her sister. "It's a craving that has returned to me, but like my mother, Henry isn't a fan of it."

"I look forward to meeting with Henry one day," Prue said. "I want to give you my views on him. But a time will come for that later, I want to give you an answer on what that world is."

Paige set down her fork and took a quick sip of her orange juice to help push the eggs down, before sitting still and listening intently to her sister.

"It was the Providere Universitas. That's basically a world that is created to provide an opportunity to live within that would be impossible with the current settings of reality. It helps you answer those 'What if?' questions that dominate your mind, but the cruel thing about it is that you can only enter it once. There's no point in making an attempt back in as you areeternally sealed off from it," Prue explained.

Paige stared into her icy blue eyes as she confessed, "I must admit that I tried to enter that room again. Henry had calmed me down, but all the emotions returned to me. I charged to the room and opened it, but nothing. It was just an old classroom. Why is it that I was chosen?"

"The world itself was created by good magic. I think it started off with a couple of sorcerers that were bored, playing around with their magic and they realized their sorcery only increased to great limits. They knew of lore and legends about how people can use magic to create worlds, planes and realms of many sorts. Word of mouth -Grams- says that the sorcerers that helped create the school, also created this world and imbued it within the the school. Grams also said that it used to be a specific room that was sealed off to prevent students from entering in it, but since the magic protecting the school was broken for a long period of time, that spell must've fallen down," Prue explained, taking a deep breath.

"So this world is just jumping around the school?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, but don't go looking for it. You'll only go mental," Prue warned. "Also from what I saw, there were witch doctors playing the fields that day so there is a possibility that they detected it. There is a chance that the magic is just so far beyond them that they could've been stepping on it and wouldn't have realized it, but you never know."

"Maybe I should cast a spell to find it..."

"No." Prue firmly replied. "You can't go searching for the room. You were given an opportunity to live the life you always wondered about and that was all because the room was searching for you. It must've detected your desire and how much it was taking you to keep it buried inside."

Prue stretched her hand across the table and placed it on Paige's pale hand, that was tapping away at the table, ashamed for hiding her feelings. "Don't suppress your emotions, Paige. You have two sisters that would stop what they were doing to listen to you, even if you just wanted to speak without them to say anything. They are there to simply be sisters. I wish I could be more around for you, but I have this feeling the Elders aren't going to let me be so available to you."

"That sucks," Paige said. "It's going to be yet another thing that is given to me and ripped away." Paige removed her hand from under Prue's, picked up her plate and walked over to the garbage. She used her fork to push all of her eggs into the garbage and tossed her plate into the sink, breaking it. She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the counter, not caring one bit for shattered plate.

Prue stood up and walked closer to Paige, placing her hand on the kitchen island, pressing all her weight there. It still felt weird to walk around with a solidified form again. She'd grown use to be weightless in the afterlife. People were seen in a nearly solidified figure, but still possessed traits of spirits. "Paige, don't take it like that. It's truly a blessing that I'm standing here right now. I started to think that I was going to be forever bound in the afterlife. I love my family, but there is only so much of Grams' gossip that one can take."

Paige smiled, dropping her arms to her side. She didn't want to spend her time with Prue being an angry little sister, so she took Prue's opening as a release from bitching about the Elders. "I'm sorry for almost lashing out about the Elders. Its just unfair and I just realized that I've been putting my feelings before yours. Sure, you must be happy to see me, but I'm no Piper or Phoebe. How does it feel knowing that you're restricted from seeing them?"

Prue was about to lower her head, hurt that she was forbidden to see her sisters, but kept her head high. "It's not easy at all for me to know I'm only allowed to see one of three of my sisters. I understand that us meeting is important, but the Elders specifically told me that both Piper and Phoebe still aren't completely over my death. Why would they be all these years later, if they haven't already?"

"Good point," Paige agreed. "There were still times where I just felt like your replacement, but not lately. I came into my own destiny and my sisters are still there for me now, if not more, than when we had the Charmed gig together. It's so nice to hear them call me daily, seeing how I am, keeping me updated on their lives and so on. I truly feel like my place in the sisterhood has been established."

"That's just what I want to hear," Prue said. "Now...I want to hear more of this world, but let's start heading upstairs. There's something I want to show you."

"In my house?" Paige asked. "Shouldn't I be the tour guide?"

"Come on," Prue said with a smile. Both witches left the kitchen together.

**(X)**

Henry was sitting down at the edge of the dock. His sneakers and socks were placed on the left of him and his jeans were rolled up to an inch below his knees. His ankles and feet were in the water with no concern for how cold it was. The chills of the lake were more comforting then the intense questions of the father in-law who stood behind him.

"Do we really have to go through this?" Henry asked. "I'm just not very open on sharing all the families I've had."

"We'll start simple. How many foster homes have you been to?" Sam asked, staring into the lake that once possessed a monster that killed the love of his life, as well as himself.

"Three," Henry breathed. "And I only count the ones that kept me for over a year."

"And how many have you told Paige about?"

"Two," the mortal answered. "She knows that I have been with another family, but I also promised that I would tell her one day. I'm just not ready to right now."

"Why don't you try sharing with me first?" Sam suggested, but Henry kept quiet. "Listen, it's not as if I'm trying to get some gossip to share with Penny. I'm just looking to get to know you, discover who the man is that is married to my daughter. Sure, we could always take it slow and talk about our favorite colors and what we watched when growing up, but something tells me that in this case, the little things aren't going to be what we remember."

"Alright," Henry gave in. "Well, one of the two lives I shared with Paige was my latest and it was the good life. I still keep in touch with them. I plan on bringing Paige to meet them sometime soon. I don't want to show up one day with our son or daughter. But I had an extremely horrible childhood that involved serious abuse."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sam consoled.

"Apologies don't heal," Henry shot back. Rethinking his childhood always brought out the anger in Henry. "I was a victim at six years old. I should've been playing with toys, learning to color within the lines, but my adoptive father would just beat the crap out of me instead. I even grew defiant against him since I was with him until age nine. He was my only parent at the time and expected me to call him 'Dad', but he wasn't worthy of that title. When he realized I would never call him what he wanted, he tried to make me call him "Sir". That is a title for someone you respect or someone that you know you should respect. No monster that would _throw_ a child deserves that respect!"

Henry's face was red and disgusted as he recounted the memories. How did he ever end up in the hands of that man? How did the foster home find him worthy of a child? With that family, there used to be a mother who received abuse herself. Henry wanted to respect how she saved herself, but hate overrode respect as she pretty much left him to die. Henry was an innocent cub that was forced to defend himself against his ferocious lion of a father.

Sam was quiet. He understood on why Henry kept this a secret. He knew how he wanted to help him.

**(X)**

"I still don't understand what you have to show me in my own house," Paige said, entering the altar room behind Prue.

"You'll find out in a minute or so. Back to Providere Universitas; you mentioned that you weren't involved in any spell casting, so I can assume that there was a battle, wasn't there?" Prue asked, making her way over to the podium with the Matthews Book of Shadows. She first placed her hands on the midnight blue leather, before opening it, and flipping through the pages one-by-one.

Paige was curious as to why she was looking through Paige's book, but just answered her question instead. "Yeah, we were going into our Ultimate and final battle. We went against these three warlocks, best known as, the Rowe Coven. They were pretty fierce and we really had to work together to defeat them."

"The Rowe Coven?" Prue said, not taking her eyes off the magically aged pages. "I'm guessing they were only inserted into that world because they had the potential to be the greatest threat in this world, if it wasn't for me convincing Brendan that he was right and that he could fight against his nature of being a warlock. The concept of that world was for you to come together with your sisters and it's safe to say we would've all had to come together to take them out."

"We did come together," Paige said. "You actually saved me from being Darklighter dinner. Well, not that Darklighters are really cannibals, but you get what I mean."

"I did?" Prue asked and finally stopped flipping through the pages. "I'm not surprised that we had each other's backs, but its just a new concept of me saving you as opposed to Piper or Phoebe."

Paige smiled, "Yeah, you saved me. He was ready to kill me and you waved your hand..." she said, demonstrating the way Prue swiped the air, "...and a great blast tore him apart. You figured it to be an advancement of your power."

Prue grinned, realizing what advancement she was talking about. "Glad you stayed alive. Those who enter the world are forced out if they are killed."

"I was forced out anyway," Paige pouted.

"You were forced out because you had experienced enough to remember the feelings. Understand that the world you experienced may have been fantastic in ways that can't be counted off with two hands, but that's not reality. Magic was showing you that life could've been very similar to that, but it may not have shown you the troubles that come with that life and how much sweat and energy would go into making that world," Prue explained. "Cherish the life you have here. This is your story and you use the pen in your hand to get where you want."

"Wise words, Prue." Paige complimented. "You had a lot of those, especially in your final entry. You spoke of how you would never give in the fight, raise Aaron to be a powerful witch and leader, and how to treat everyday as if it was your last. Normally, I'd shout 'Cliche!', but considering the situation and how we live our lives, they were just...wise words."

Prue continued to grin, now resuming the flipping of the tome. "Out of curiosity, Paige, I have a question of my own. I'll admit, I was doing a little eavesdropping this morning as I have done an embarrassing amount of times and I heard you tell Sam that Mom's death was replaced with him dying instead. How did I survive?" The eldest sister continued to stare at the pages, remembering how she felt around the time of her death...

_She pushed the doctor out of harm...she was protecting an Innocent because that was her job, her duty, her responsibility. The murderous assassin Shax then unleashed a deadly blow against her chest...one that didn't allow her enough time to deflect it and the demon's attack knocked the wind out of her. She soared backwards, crashing through the plaster first before going through the entire structure of the wall, landing into the conservatory. She slammed onto the floor, her head bounced on__c__e and slammed back down onto the floor. She then lied there motionless, in desperate need of healing, with no one quick enough to give it to her. If only she had someone that wouldn't have needed to be called__to always be right by her side..._

"I healed you." Paige answered. Her sister's head slowly lifted up and just stared at her. Deciding to cut the silence, as Prue did earlier when first being summoned, and added, "You were actually the one that told me that I healed you as Leo took care of Piper."

"It must've been pretty close." Prue meekly said. She took a deep breath before flipping through the pages. "So I would bet money that you're wondering what I'm looking for, right?"

"I sure am lucky that I didn't put down any wages," Paige joked. "Yeah, I am curious."

"Well, as I'm sure you and our sisters figured out by now that family members can pass along knowledge from the afterlife," Prue assumedcorrectly. "I personally made an entry into your Book of Shadows about my powers. I discovered that you, as of lately, possess the power of telekinesis. Then you had that battle with, uh..."

"Zankou?" Paige completed, assuming she'd be talking about her astral advancement.

"Yeah, with Zankou and Leo decided it was the right time to teach you guys the method of astral projection," Prue reminded.

"Could you possibly explain that to me and I'll pass it along to Piper and Phoebe? How is it possible that you were able to teach someone that power? We were under the impression it was a power of your own," Paige said, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

"Astral projection is a power that came to me, based on my own emotions and development of my being a witch. But powers don't make a witch, it's the knowledge a witch has. I always knew we were powerful because we had Charmed power, but we were the witches we were...I was the witch I _was_ and you guys are the witches you are because of knowledge." Prue then slapped her hands on the pages. "Without the Book of Shadows, we would've all been dead together long ago. Our key to survival was being able to know beforehand how to destroy these demons, warlocks, and so on. Our ancestors didn't exactly guess the ingredients that went into a potion that would work, but they only learned by trial and error."

"Like your animal conjuring spell?" Paige asked, remembering the difficulty she had trying to summon a single white dove.

"Yeah, and like you, I didn't get it on my first try. I started to think ahead and wanted to see if we could find a way to teach people to use our powers, knowing that a time would come when we all passed, and our powers might need to be available to future generations. I did some reading and found out that powers like telekinesis couldn't really be duplicated, but astral projection could," Prue explained.

"And who was your test monkey?" Paige asked.

"The lovely Leo," Prue answered with a chuckle. "He was the assigned Whitelighter and I asked him to keep it in confidence for it was one of those powers that could end up taking over you. We were the Charmed Ones and whenever we engaged in battle, situations tended to get intense and with intensity, desperation to do right tends to follow. The trigger for astral projection is desperation, whether it be desperate to be in two places at once or desperate to have an extra you."

"We definitely needed a decoy," Paige said. "So that goes in the 'Extra You' category."

Prue pulled out the black ribbon of the three, for no special reason, and placed it in-between the two pages she was currently on. She closed the Book and picked it up, holding it against her chest. "Exactly. I introduced the idea to Leo and he was able to do it with some practice. Since he wasn't really in any desperate state, it took a while, but I think I can also blame it on his being a full Whitelighter."

Prue walked past Paige, who followed without having to be told and the two walked through the hallway and down the steps. Prue continued, "But since you are half Whitelighter, I think that's why the method was also easier for you because your witch side allowed it to be so. The fact that you were able to orb that book puzzled me because astral selves aren't supposed to be able to tap into their powers until they reach a greater strength. Any idea how you did it?"

The two reached the landing and walked into the conservatory. It was different to that of the Halliwell manor. The room was shaped like an octagon, two sides were entrances and the opposite four sides were the stained glass windows. The windows were an assortment of colors, like all stained glass windows; there was sapphire blue, cobalt, green and a bright yellow. There was a potted plant in the corner of the room that was only put there because Henry told Paige it was pointless to have the room without one. The plant was still growing in size, but it was their creation.

"I have no idea how I did it, I just panicked," Paige said. "I must admit, I kinda forgot that you can't access your powers. I have an occasional flaw of memory loss in tense situations. I'm working on it though."

Prue laughed as she set the tome down on the white wicker bench. "Work on your forgetfulness later, right now we're going to work on your telekinetic power."

"What? Really?" Paige asked, excited. "Wow, we're going to have two telekinetics in the house."

"I assume you're talking about your charge, Billie. Sure, she has the power, but if you practiced it, yours would be stronger without a doubt. I would still suggest -once you get your powers back- your use those as your primary powers. They're your strongest without a doubt, but use standard telekinesis in less intense situations," Prue suggested. "Now. Let's start training."

**(X)**

Henry and Sam were now sitting in the Whitelighter's cabin. A brown towel was wrapped around the body of the shivering bare-chest mortal, whose teeth happened to be chattering fiercely. His dampened white shirt lay next to him balled up and his leather jacket was hanging from the opposite armrest of the faded red couch he sat on. Henry's dark hair was wet, but drying fast as he didn't have much hair for the water to stay soaked.

"Do you at least feel better now?" Sam asked. "I can always lend you a shirt."

Henry nodded. Upon confessing his story of abuse to Sam, Henry, took off his jacket and shirt and dived into the water, hoping to literally cool off the hot head that came with the confession. His jeans were drenched as he didn't bother to take them off and we're tight against his legs now, causing great discomfort. "I'm better, thanks. How's that coffee coming along?"

Sam turned around to a table that had two piles of papers as well as a white coffee brewer. The pale brown liquid was growing in heat, but the roasted seeds still hadn't finished settling yet. "Nope, sorry, son. I feel that Prue will be leaving Paige soon as time is almost up, but I owe you an answer now. You are still curious as to why I continue to stay here, aren't you?"

"Honestly?" Henry said, fighting to stop his teeth from chattering, "I'm not. I have a question of my own. You asked me something personal and it's only fair I get to ask you something in return."

"You're right. It is fair. What is it you have in mind?" Sam replied, folding his hands before him.

"Why didn't you just risk punishment as opposed to giving up your daughter? Your _only_ daughter at that. Paige was right, she was worth it! Even if they were going to kill you, where the hell do you get off putting yourself before your child!" Henry shouted, standing up now. "If a bullet comes at my child, you can guarantee that I will throw my body in the way! That's what parents are supposed to do! They're supposed to put their children before them and I have parents who taught me that, as well as parents who showed me the parent I don't want to be!"

Henry took sharp breaths as he stared at Paige's father.

"You sure have been suppressing some feelings, haven't you?" Sam questioned. "Let me ask you this before I answer your question; how long have you been having those feelings? Have you always felt angry at me for Paige?"

"A little, yeah," Henry answered. "But when I watched my wife today on the verge of tears because she felt worthless, it helped me sky rocket to being disgusted with how she considers you a parent. I don't know what's worse out of being abused almost every day or completely abandoned. She had great parents, but she must've always wondered what her life had been like had you and her mother been around to raise her. Her trip to that world proves that."

"You're right. I wasn't a very good father. You know, I wasn't a father at all to her. I want to change that though and she's willing to give me a chance. That's what counts," Sam responded. "As for me giving her up. I wasn't under the same mentality as you. I can say this; you have the potential to be a fantastic father, Henry. I don't doubt that. You already sound as if you'll be a better father."

Henry wanted to thank him, but he was still somewhat furious. He watched Sam turn around and take a few steps forward, before turning back to Henry.

"Coffee is ready."

**(X)**

Crash. Shatter.

A clear vase now lay shattered on the floor next to the growing plant. Paige had her arm extended and shifted her head to cast Prue an ashamed look. "Oops..."

"Paige, we're not stopping until you get this right and if that means breaking everything in this house, so be it. Just being able to move something isn't enough as you need to gain full control. That kind of telekinetic action will only work when battling demons," Prue explained "Onto kitchenware now."

"Not the kitchenware!" Paige begged. "Piper will kill me if she finds out that I destroyed her housewarming present."

"Then let's get it right," Prue said. "Look at the bright side; if she does kill you, we can hang out some more." Prue grinned and turned her attention to the two chairs in front of her. On the left of her was a third chair that had a pile of dinner plates. "Also, Paige, you broke a plate earlier so Piper's going to be on your butt anyway."

"Good point," Paige said with pursed lips.

"Let's get this right now. Move the plate from the first chair to the second," Prue said. "Should I demonstrate again?"

"No, I understand the concept of moving one thing to another," Paige replied. "Besides, you shouldn't even have your powers, I thought it passed onto me and blended with my Whitelighter magic."

"Wrong." Prue said. "You were given the power of telekinesis because it's what was required as the third power to fit in with the Charmed triad. If it had been Piper or Phoebe, you would've received their powers."

"I might as well have Piper's power now with the way I'm destroying things," Paige joked. Seconds passed and she stopped joking and concentrated, wanting to prove herself to Prue. She wished she had her actual powers now to completely show off how good she is, but that option wasn't available. She cleared her mind and just focused on the plate. Prue suggested that she needs to want it to happen, to envision it happening and then she just had to will it with the proper motion.

Paige gently curved her fingers and made sure she had space in-between each finger. She slowly began to move the plate from the pile and steadied her arm, careful not to move too fast. She mentally moved the plate to the first chair, which was her destination. She carefully placed it down and repeated the process, moving onto the second chair. Like the first, she placed the plate down on the chair.

"Well, look who just got a 'Get Out of _Heaven_ Free' card," Prue commented, smiling at her sister's success. "I'm glad you're gaining control, sis. It's important considering that it's the only power you have to defend yourself. Be sure to study the Book to enhance your astral ability. Grams would be proud of you for practicing your powers being pregnant. I saw with Piper that they tended to get..."

"Wonky?" Paige finished. "Yeah, she was the one that told me I should keep my powers in check. Too bad I don't have my actual powers to keep in check."

"Come on, let's sit," Prue said, leading Paige to her own dining room. Only one chair was at the table and Prue extended her hand at the chair that was free of any plates. The chair slid across the floor, luckily not scraping it and halted beside her. She personally sat down on that chair as Paige pulled out the remaining chair and sat down.

"Don't take not having your powers so hard. You're bound to get them back, but you know it's going to take some great deed or something. Let's talk children," Prue said. "Do you have any idea on what the gender is? Are you going to raise him or her as a little witchlighter?"

"No idea on what the gender is," Paige said. "Henry and I made an appointment to find out soon. We're eager so we can start picking out names. Being a mother, I have to admit is freaking me out though. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for it.It's taken me a while to get my own life in order and with a new destiny, I'm supposed to throw being a mother in there?"

"Halliwell women are powerful in being able to do this, Paige. It doesn't matter what your last name is, you are in fact a _Halliwell_, one of us, and because of that is why you're capable. It won't be easy, but you can do it," Prue said. "Besides, you have a husband that I'm sure is just great and you got a best friend that happens to live here with you. You know all you have to do is call Phoebe over here and she'll be here before you hang up the phone and Piper is an accomplished mother."

"I just don't want to let him or her down," Paige said, concerned. The idea of someone living off how they were taken care of by someone else frightened her.

"You need to get used to the idea that your life is changing, Paige," Prue advised. A wide-grin then spread across her face. "In fact, I have the perfect way to get you on the _change_ railroad."

"What do you have in mind?" Paige questioned, admittedly a little nervous.

"Well. Phoebe once needed change and I happened to help her go blonde and maybe it's time for you to just go for a little change," Prue suggested. "You looked beautiful with the red and that blonde, so why not try one of those again?"

"Hmm. Henry did have the idea playing in mind a couple weeks ago after he made a hair color potion. I should maybe just experiment with his potion..."

"And risk going bald or something? I'm sorry, but you shouldn't risk it and I've been successful once, I can do it again," a confident Prue spoke. She always strived to be the best she could in everything she did. "If it goes wrong, we can always cast a spell that can undo the damage you _won't_ receive." Prue smirked.

"Fine. If you let me down, I'll ruin your 'Prue is Perfect' reputation," Paige joked, standing up with her sister.

"I doubt I will, but I'm a ghost..." Prue started, throwing her arm around Paige's shoulders, "I will haunt you if you do."

**(X)**

A yellow towel was wrapped around Paige's head as she stood in her bathroom, alone. She looked in the mirror and just smiled at her day so far. She had just spent an hour doing her hair with her sister, having small talk about what they were each like in high school, as well as past crushes. Prue had even filled in Paige on why she never became a Whitelighter. Although Prue had done a lot of good as a Charmed One, she was a witch and witches weren't offered the spot of a Whitelighter too often. Once Prue settled with the idea of being dead, she decided it was best for her to just watch how her sisters moved on. It wasn't in her place to guide their lives any longer.

Prue had left Paige about five minutes ago to allow her to do some final touches on her hair and she was just getting ready to unwrap it. The bathroom had been victim to Paige's dye equipment. As she told Prue, she had been anticipating a new color and went out and bought several possibilities ahead of time. The box of her selection lay open and there were a pair of gloves lying inside a basket that was layered with tissues. The dark red stained gloves were used by Prue, just for precaution. She didn't want to risk going back into the afterlife with stained hands, which Paige chuckled at.

With both hands, she untied the knot of the towel and dropped it, not realizing that it was staining her white doormat. She gazed into the mirror and was no longer a brunette as she had beautiful red hair. She had her red hair at a time where her hair was shorter, and now that is was back at full length, she felt better. She looked fantastic and was loving the look and felt a wave of change brought upon her already. She spun around, throwing her head back and forth, letting her soft hair smack her in the neck several times. Pleased, she left the bathroom in the mess it was to show it off to her sister.

She entered the altar room where she saw Prue closing the Book of Shadows. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful. Henry is going to go crazy, though you two better not be _getting_ crazy," Prue joked. "I'm glad we were able to bond all this time. I hope we're so fortunate to be able to do it again some day."

"Wait..." Paige walked further into the room, leaving about a two foot difference between the two sisters, "Are you leaving now?" The joy in Paige's face was now replaced with discomfort.

"I have to," Prue meekly replied. "I'm not supposed to be here for so long. We just have to take our time for what it was; we shared memories and laughs. We got some necessary sisterly bonding in."

"Yeah, we did," Paige said. "Before you go, can I ask you one last question?"

"Of course, Paige."

Paige took in a deep breath, "After you died and found out about me...how did you feel when you initially found out you had another sister? And how I was hidden from you?"

"Honestly?" Prue said, folding her arms. "I was pissed off at Mom. I was even pushing her away when she wanted to console me about my death and that was a time I needed her the most. Nonetheless, I pushed her away. I felt as if I could've taken care of you and watched over you, the same way I did for Piper and Phoebe. We were denied years of bonding and it isn't fair that I don't know if I'll be able to come back here after I leave here today. We shouldn't have to squeeze everything in one day because Mom was scared. I've learned to make my peace with this though and that's why I stand here grateful to finally meet you."

Paige took a couple of steps forward and threw her arms around her sister, hugging her. "I'm glad I got to meet you as well. It's helped me feel complete in being a part of this family."

Prue brushed Paige's hair, kissed her on the cheek and stepped back. "It was great meeting you, Paige." Prue stopped walking backwards and stopped right in front of the candles that were still lit. She held out her arm and mentally flipped open the Book. She winked at Paige and took the final step backwards, becoming dead once again and turned into a spirit. "I hope to see you soon, sis."

"You too," Paige replied, smiling, yet fighting back tears.

A swirl of golden spheres spiraled around Prue, consuming her and a warm golden glow enveloped her as she drifted from her spiritual circle. Paige wondered if she'd ever see her sister appear in that circle again. The witch walked over to the Book of Shadows and saw that there was a pen in-between the pages, holding it as a mark. There was a page that was freshly written on.

_Paige,_

_You've shown me today that I really missed out on meeting another sister. It's unfortunate that fear of power stood in the way, but we can't hold grudges. Destiny found a way to bring you together with your family and we all love you. I hope we'll be able to meet again, but know that I'll be looking out for you. I'll be that familiar presence that you can trust is protecting you._

_Love,_

_Prue._

Paige had done a lot of smiling today, but this one was the biggest. She rubbed her palm against the page, feeling closer by touching the words.

A column of orbs appeared and Henry stood there, looking around to confirm where he was. He was pressing his jacket against his chest with one hand as the other held onto his two shoes. The towel was no longer wrapped around his shoulders.

"Henry, where's Sam?" Paige asked. "Wait, where's your shirt?"

"Me and your father didn't really get along. I just asked for him to orb me home," Henry answered. "I'm sorry, but that man I hold no respect for." The mortal then stormed out of the room, obviously too upset to ask Paige about her encounter with Prue.

"So much for Henry wanting to have sex with me when he sees my hair," the witch said as she chased after her husband.

Her Book of Shadows remained open, until it magically closed from an unreachable force...

**End of Chapter.**

**A/note: **And that ends the Prue two-parter. I hope you guys enjoyed my portrayal of her. I have a couple of people to thank**. 1) Temporal Death** for requesting that I include that little info on Paige's blood being included with her Book. I've thought up a fun way for the Book to protect itself because of it. So thanks again. **2) Reyn **for helping me out with all that hair color stuff. Highly appreciated. 

Final note, if there are any errors, I apologize. Im working off WordPad so I dont have anything to indicate error. I hope it wasn't too distracting. Do me a solid and leave a review.


	12. Guardians

**A/Note: **Alright, update time. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It was rewritten once I returned, but I have to say, it was rewritten for the better. Any mistakes, please point them out to me as I'm currently working with WordPad for writing and no editor (because it makes updating faster). So please, enjoy and there's a fun fact here:

Cameron Hawke (the Phoenix first seen in "Survivor: Magic School") is actually a character from a good friend of mine's story (RJF) who can now be viewed in my Author's List and Story Favorites. Cameron is the son of a character who I loved so much in reading his 42 chapter story and he allowed me to include her and her son to flesh him out. It's kinda Crossover, but everything I include from there will be explained in descriptions. So enjoy. He's in this chapter as well. Ramble done, enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 12- Guardians **

**November 15, 2006**

Paige Matthews sat comfortably in her black leather chair behind her desk in her classroom at Magic School watching as her students took the first exam of the year. Classes had finally resumed at the magical academy and while the enrollment process took about a week, most of the teachers that once taught returned to continue to enlighten the minds of the bright young witches. Alumnis of the school knew of the catastrophe of the school being lost and figured it to be best to help out with getting students to return through spells of information and to convince parents that this school will be even safer than the first time, having been protected by the Charmed Ones and magic from the community.

Paige smiled brightly as she continued to look at her students who seemed to feel pretty confident judging from the looks on most of their faces. As some wrote away, others were going at a much slower pace trying not to lose points because they answered too fast. The class Paige taught was Advanced Magical Knowledge and the position seemed to be just right for her. While students are always there to learn, Paige learned that she apparently had much more to learn about magic as well. She was given text books to use and studied them wanting to know the material before teaching it; just as a teacher should do. Whenever she had difficulty, teachers that used to teach the subject that were only around to help out as Temporary Staff would assist her.

The current test the students were taking covered several topics. They had to list all of the ingredients to several potions such as hand-grenade potions, teleportation potions and one to create a phasing particle effect. Paige had promised her class that she would be a little lenient if they were off by an ingredient or two, but had to be somewhat strict later on as potions isn't a subject to be taken lightly, especially if one needs to be made to vanquish a force of Evil. In the older years of the school, it was banned to teach potions that created explosive effects as the Elders and teachers had concern for the potions being used against other students and teachers, but Paige knew her students were all very responsible. Students have a need to feel trusted and Paige was fair enough to provide them that. They were honored to be taught by a Charmed One and wouldn't take advantage of her knowledge, knowing the experiences she was forced to endure with her sisters in their Charmed years.

The next portion of the test covered spells and enchantments. Paige provided life-like situations and the students had to list a proper spell that could assist the situation for the better. There was a surprise segment of the test that was a surprise for a reason. An enchantment was placed on all of the exams and they had to write a spell within a minute's timing that would be capable in vanquishing a demon who possessed the ability to shoot lightning and shapeshift. The task at hand would help them in the long run as witches.

The final section of the test entailed history of magic. The students had to answer several questions about the background of Sea Nymphs, the Guardians of the Hollow and a century's old war between leprechauns and gnomes. The students enjoyed learning about all the criteria on the exam, so Paige shared in their confidence that they would do fine. Although she hated not being able to help charges, she was still making a difference by helping the fourteen young minds in front of her.

The redhead turned her attention to a golden based hourglass sitting by the window and saw that the sand was piling up at the bottom. With all the classes in the past weeks, Paige had learned to tell time from an hourglass and she spoke to the class, "Alright, guys, we have about ten minutes left until the bell rings. If anyone is done, I'm willing to collect them now and you guys can get a move on with getting to your next classes."

Four students stood up, all eyeing their exams giving it a final glance over. One student fell right back down to his seat, realizing he wanted to change the answer to a question. A brunette girl that was more familiar with working alongside Piper with a friend, approached Paige's desk with her hand extended, possessing her exam. "Here you go, Mrs. Matthews."

"Thanks, Jen," the Charmed witch whispered back. "How do you feel you did?"

"It was fairly easy. I don't mean to insult you by that, I just knew that your teaching guided me to delivering the right answers," Jen explained. Jen and her friend Ryan assisted Piper earlier in the year, while Paige was on her honeymoon, to send a Noxon Demon to the Astral Plane in order to allow the two young witches to live their lives without being chased by the two indestructible demons.

"I'm sure you did well," Paige responded. "You're a bright and powerful girl. You'll do well once you bust out of this place." The redhead chuckled as Jen walked out of the classroom, feeling confident that she'll have great results.

She began to collect the other examinations from the students lining up behind each other. She was happy that she was in a magically protected environment where she could converse with her students knowing that answers couldn't be shared as they were blocked with a standard spell. As much as she loved teaching, she was glad that class was almost over so she could find some time to start grading the exams and head on home to meet with Henry as well as check up on Billie.

**(X)**

Twenty minutes had passed since the exam ended and Paige had already graded six of the exams. She was completely satisfied with the results of her students as no one had failed. For the potions segment the results were near perfect, for the spells segment the students provided reasonable theories for their spell selection and they all knew about the history lessons given to them for the knowledge portion. Paige was now reading a student's answer about the war between the leprechauns and gnomes.

_The war between the leprechauns and the earth elementals was started in the year 1904 when a practical joke turned friendly races against each others. The trickster race of fairies had invaded the Garden of Gnomes, lamely named by an elderly gnome who's name happens to be more embarrassing than that of the Gnome territory. The fairies had robbed some treasures that had been found within the earth by the gnomes and brought back to Garden of Gnomes and replaced it with letters that insulted the worth of gnomes. The leprechauns were confronted due to the gossip of the fairies that played the prank and the two races have exchanged insults and attempts at battle ever since. A leprechaun or gnome have never been lost in battle as the two aren't strong enough to take the other out, but some have been injured. The two races live in ignorance and never believe that the fairies are actually behind this, despite confessing. _

Paige chuckled at the brief humor in the answer. She asked her students to make taking an exam fun and that the humor wouldn't be used against them while grading. With humor, students wouldn't dread taking an exam so much and Paige would enjoy reading them. The witch's phone vibrated against the oak desk and that was Paige's alarm telling her that she should start heading back home to meet her husband. She stood up and packed the rest of the examinations into her brown leather one-strap bag and hung it over her shoulder. She exited the classroom and closed the door behind her.

She walked down the hall, passing by several students who were wandering around enjoying their free time. Some stopped so they could look at the plaques on the wall, hung up for the honorees of those who helped in reclaiming the school and past contributors. Paige and her sisters along with Billie were listed along the row and were greatly honored by it. The pregnant witch arrived at her destination; the Headmaster's office.

She knocked and entered, to see her brother-in-law Leo hard at work. Leo was offered the position to return to his role as Headmaster and accepted. He initially wanted to explore more mortal occupations, but realized that at the end of the day he probably wouldn't be as satisfied with his work as he would be as Headmaster of the school.

"Leo, I'm heading out now. You don't need me for anything else right?" Paige asked, making her way over to a drawer where she knew Leo stored his mortal enabled teleportation potions, courtesy of Piper.

"No, you're good to go. Did you have any time to look over the exams yet?" Leo asked, not taking his eyes off of a student application.

"The parents will be pleased," Paige answered, pulling out one potion. "You don't mind me robbing from your stock of take-me-home potions, do you?"

Leo placed down the application onto his desk and looked up at Paige. "Go right ahead. I take enough for the week and keep a couple extra in case I send a student home early. I should really get the school nurse to keep more alongside her medicinal stock." He then stood up and began to move over to another cabinet, "Besides, Piper is working on a spell that will create a personal portal for me to just walk through and appear in my office from home. She's been a bit busy with the club and boys to finish it though."

"If she ever needs help, call me on over. I don't get to see my sisters enough anymore. I kinda miss those devilish fiends that brought us together on a more daily basis." She smiled, remembering a time where all three Halliwell sisters lived under one roof. "Well, I'm off. Henry and I are going to see what we should use to start on the baby's room," Paige informed.

Leo smiled and said, "If you ever need help, you can always use me. Wyatt as a baby enjoyed his personal space."

"I've used you guys as an inspiration to get this done in my first trimester, but I have to say, Leo, that building that nursery in your closet for Wyatt may have been cute and all, but it was very Harry Potter," Paige joked.

"Harry Potter's room was under the staircase, not in a closet," Leo responded back, not offended.

"Aren't you just the perfect dude for this job? You even know the magic in fictional hits," Paige gave one last smile before dropping the potion onto the floor and was instantly consumed by the large cloud of smoke that was released from the shattered vial.

**(X)**

The same cloud of smoke rose from the floor of the foyer in Paige's house and the Charmed One stood there as the smoke quickly dissipated. She placed down her leather bag onto the foyer table that rested alongside the wall and under a mirror. Paige proceeded and slid out of her black teacher's robe. She stared at herself in the mirror and admired her image; she had on a brown maternity shirt that folded over her chest and black dress pants that were built for a pregnant woman. The pants would grow on the waist as Paige would along her pregnancy. Paige had already bought a selection of maternity clothes because unlike her eldest living sister, she was pretty excited about it, as long as it was stylish. Phoebe had gone along with Paige having missed the experience with Piper and spoiled Paige with a load of casual and work appropriate maternity clothes.

Paige touched the growing bump on her stomach. For a woman in her third month, she was growing faster than usual. She then looked down at her stomach and asked, "You're going to be a C-section baby, aren't you?"

"If the baby comes out in orbs, would you really need a C-section?" Billie asked, walking into the foyer and smiling at her friend. Paige looked up at Billie with a smile of her own. "I took the liberty of separating the boxes in the basement for you. I figured it would be easier for you guys and I needed some time away from all the sister searching."

"Not going well?" Paige asked. Billie nodded, dissapointed. "I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping to my promise and helping you out with looking for her. I really do mean to, especially since there is a chance that we can maybe take more of an initiative to knock some good into her, but Henry and I have just been considering it best for me to lay low especially with me having very little power."

Henry, Sam and the family members resting in the Heavens were the only ones that knew of Paige's encounter with Prue. Prue wanted to meet her sisters, but couldn't and Paige wanted to honor the trust of her sister by not saying anything to Piper and Phoebe. Paige had even enchanted the page that Prue had written to her for eyes only and no one else's.

"I'm really not upset with you. I'm grateful for this roof you've provided for me, your personal tome and the wisdom you've empowered within me. You've upgraded me from just being a regular witch to a powerful one. I feel I should be doing more for you and I thought I would start with separating your boxes," Billie said, clasping her palms around her waist. "If you don't mind though, I'm going to kick it back with your blue book upstairs and follow up on a lead I have."

"You're obsessing, Billie," Paige stated. "I feel like I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't point that out. We've been here before."

"And it's hard to not take this same path again. I have a chance at redemption and I've never gotten over killing her. I might put on this whole act, but that image _truly_ haunts me. I can't go on like this, so I'm going to learn more about how a firestarter's body can reform after something like that," Billie said. "I've tried projecting myself to her and _nothing_. Unless there is nothing to go to, something must be protecting her from me. I intend on figuring out what that is."

Billie dropped her arms to her side and walked up the steps just as Henry walked in. Paige wanted to call out to Billie, but figured it to be best to let her deal. Billie was always capable of defending herself from demons. "Hey, honey."

"Hey." Henry walked in wearing his favorite leather jacket, a green dress shirt underneath with the collar open and black jeans. He embraced his wife and kissed her forehead before resting his chin on her head. "How were your classes?"

"Fine," she answered, snuggling against his chest. "Was work okay?" She slid out from under his chin so she could see his face. Henry continued to hug her waist and the two just smiled at each other.

"Work was fine. One of my parolees is on the run now and he hasn't been at any of his usual spots. Ever since his girlfriend was killed, he's been hiding with the fear of being next. He just wants to protect his son right now," Henry explained. "Speaking of children, are we ready to do this room?"

The two parted from each other's holds and Paige nodded. "I sure am. I hope you don't mind, but I brought some work home for tonight. I want to have the exam grades ready for a weekly progress report that Leo wants."

"Is he putting too much work on you? I'm pretty sure that I can take him," Henry pounded his chest twice with his fist. "I fight for my woman."

Paige laughed, "Don't go beating up Leo. He's only doing weekly reports for the first month and a half so the parents are aware of everything going on. I appreciate the offer though." She quickly kissed him on the lips and pointed towards the staircase, "Now go and get dressed in something that you don't mind getting dust all over."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Henry responded, saluting before marching towards the steps with his arms pressed against his sides.

Paige couldn't help but laugh some more before turning on her heel to head to the basement. The interior of the house was very similar to that of the Halliwell manor and Paige passed through her dining room, through her kitchen and reached the door that lead into the basement. She carefully walked down and looked at the boxes that were left over from the move months ago.

She folded her arms over her chest and took a deep breath, "Where to start?"

**(X)**

In the altar room, Billie was standing over the podium and flipping through the Book of Shadows. She stopped flipping as soon as she found the page she was searching for and moved over to the table that her notepad was on. She picked it up along with a black pen and moved back to the Book, "Ludlow's School of Servitude and the Infernal." She nodded and read the entry, "The upper level demon Ludlow, a personal associate to the Source, takes demonic children under his care or children that have the potential to do great Evil. He trains the children to become the next generation of servants to the Source, protecting him from those who wish to do him harm or to go out on assassination missions. Ludlow is popular in obtaining firestarters as the Source has stated that they bear the greatest of elemental power and are often the most aggressive when they embrace their full form. Ludlow's cryokinetic abilities help him to tame the firestarters in order to educate them in the art of black magic without risking death himself."

Billie ran a circle over the title of the academy on her notepad. "Gotcha." She then continued to read on the final line that read, "To locate the academy you simply have to have the desire to find it and through a teleportation method the school's charms will uncloak the academy to the searcher."

The blonde witch dropped the notepad onto the pages of the Book and closed the tome. She walked over to the table once again to pick up two potions, which she tucked into her pocket, along with one blue potion and an athamae. She concentrated on Ludlow's academy and dropped the blue potion at her feet, vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

**(X)**

Paige was sitting with her legs folded on the basement floor, reaching into her second box. She pulled out goggles from when Henry was swimming at their honeymoon in Bora Bora and she reflected for a second on how much fun she had on the entire honeymoon. She then looked back into the box and saw a green cubed box. She pulled it out, not remembering what it was and opened it. She reached in and pulled out a snow-globe.

The circular glass sphere was placed within a red base and had a model of New York's structure inside. It captured the highlights of the city such as the Empire State Building, the now fallen Twin Towers, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower. At the bottom of the dome were layers of mimic snow, waiting to be thrown around after being contained to the floor for months. As if their call reached Paige's ears, she shook the snowglobe and watched as the _snow_ scattered away from each other and gracefully landed back on the _streets_ of New York.

For some reason, she reflected longer on the snow-globe of an old love than her own honeymoon. She had no doubts about Henry, she loved him for sure, but Kyle was a love that was taken from her. It took a while before she fell out of love for him, but Paige never stopped thinking about how different life could've been if Kyle and her were still together. Still each other's.

Paige slowly stood up, being careful not to drop the snowglobe and continued to gaze into the mini replica of New York City. This meant a great deal to Kyle and for that reason, she could never get herself to throw it away or leave it at his apartment after he passed. She didn't want anything bad to happen to it.

And then that familiar voice spoke, "You always were one to recognize how special that was to me."

Paige's breath stopped. A surprise like this should've made her lose all control, but her grip tightened after hearing the masculine voice coming behind her. She slowly shifted around and there he stood. Kyle Brody, the mortal that was promoted to a Whitelighter after his death for all he did with trying to stop the Avatars was standing directly in front of Paige with his hands folded behind his back.

Kyle's mouth curved into a soft smile as his green eyes continued to look at the beautiful redhead with porcelain skin in front of him. "How are you doing, Paige?"

"Kyle...Wh-What are you doing here?" Paige asked.

"Couple of reasons. For one, I wanted to see you. I've been wanting to see you for over a year now, but that just couldn't happen. The Elders just forbade it and nothing I ever said was enough to let them go back on that. They always told me I should just be grateful to be living again, but I've often felt like I've been living an empty life since I'm living one without love. I just live a life where life is only about work and that's how I've lived before I met you. I'm basically who I was before meeting you except I have the ability to provide people magical surgery," Kyle explained, fully. Paige was still in awe at his presence and remained silent, but he changed the subject. "I hear that you're married now."

The witch politely nodded, "Yeah. He should be coming down in a little bit. I have no clue what's taking him so long, but we're supposed to be making a room for our child." She looked down at the snow-globe in her possession and then back up at him. "You came at a pretty coincidental time."

Kyle unfolded his hands and chuckled, "Yeah. It's strange, but I felt you holding it. I have no reason how, but I was just in Golden Gate Park meditating and I got a psychic hit, if you will."

"Strange," Paige said. "Would you like it back?"

"I'd actually appreciate it more if you'd just hold onto it. I know it's safe with you. If I may request, instead of giving me the snow-globe, I'd like to ask for your help. I'm getting desperate and I have a feeling that only you can help me with my objective," Kyle pleaded. "It was originally intended for you."

"What was originally intended for me?" Paige asked.

"I've been given the job of locating the next Guardian of the Hollow. The Elders originally wanted you to attend this ceremony as they believed you to be the most capable for the job, but they offered it to other Whitelighters since you don't have your powers right now. The ceremony to crown both Guardians is tonight and I'm running out of time. I'm hoping that we can..."

"Go around the world in eighty orbs?" Paige interrupted. "I really want to help, but I can't just abandon my husband on something like this."

"Please, Paige," the Whitelighter pleaded again. "I think we should be able to get it done quickly with the connections you've gained over your years as a Charmed One. Someone must owe you a favor or something."

"Not that I'm keeping tab, but _plenty_ of people owe me favors." Paige took in a deep breath and kneeled down, placing the snow-globe onto the floor. She rose back up and said, "I'm being unfair. Care to elaborate on how desperate this situation is?"

"Really? You of all people should know how desperate the situation is. Do I have to remind you about the Ultimate Battle? The fact that you and your sisters were able to call upon it was because there was no one there to stop you guys. You should be scared that some different force of Evil will call upon it to destroy you," Kyle said.

"Eh, me not so much. I only have one power as of the moment," Paige said. "It's not even all that impressive right now. If someone is stupid enough to get pumped up with Hollow steroids, they definitely have more impressive prey to sniff out."

"Paige, please," Kyle expressed, "This is serious. Guardians are needed to defend the Hollow from being released and I have to select a candidate that is willing to give up the rest of their lives to serve on the behalf of Good. There are quite a few Whitelighters that would rather live with knowing that a Darklighter just might kill them one day, believe it or not."

"Have you ever considered yourself to be the Hollow's Next Top Model?" Paige quipped.

Kyle remained silent. He never did actually consider himself to take on this role. "I actually haven't. Does that make me a hypocrite?"

"Not really. Close-minded maybe, but not a hypocrite," Paige said. She realized she was a little harsh and said, "Alright, I just played a serious bitch card and as my apology, we're going to go shopping for a new Guardian. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like you're going to be the kind of mom that takes her child to get a new toy when they're feeling down," Kyle commented.

"Maybe if my kid is good enough, I'll take him or her to New York," Paige said, winking. "Let me just go and tell my husband that I'm heading out. I don't want him to worry."

"Fair enough, but please hurry back," the Whitelighter replied.

Paige nodded and headed up the steps to tell Henry where she was going.

**(X)**

Billie ran her fist into the lower level demon's temple, who was clad in a faded black robe. She then swung her elbow into his jaw and strongly kicked his knee, causing him to collapse to the floor. Billie looked around to see what else she could use on him in Ludlow's school library and figured the books would have some effect. She swiped the air and roughly thirty textbooks flew out from the maroon colored bookcase and landed onto the demon.

"Have you had enough?" Billie shouted, knowing to increase the volume of her voice with the large pile of books on the demon. Billie gently moved her wrists and seven of the books flew off of him. She took no compassion for the moaning demon. "I want you to provide me all the books in your archive that have the word 'firestarter' in them and anything that Ludlow gave to his firestarter students. Are you ready to cooperate?"

"I told you...I don't know...yo-you _bitch_!" His mouth was bloody having lost a couple of teeth with the heavy textbooks slamming into his mouth.

"Do you really want me to be the one that gives you a premature death? I can arrange that if you need proof," Billie bullied. "If you can't help me, who _can_?"

"I'm pretty sure I can."

Billie turned around to see Cameron Hawke, the Phoenix who not only helped her in the battle for Magic School, but also helped her realize that Christy was still alive. His blond hair remained in the same style as before and he was in ordinary blue jeans with a longsleeve black shirt.

"I tried finding you a few weeks back. You're not easy to locate," Billie said.

"I know how to cover my tracks. I wouldn't be good at what I do if I didn't," Cameron replied with a smirk. "I doubt that demon knows anything."

"Can you actually confirm that theory of yours?"

Cameron walked over to the demon and kicked the books off of him. He crouched over and lifted him by the collar of his robe and suspended him in the air under his grip. The blond stared into his eyes, gazing into the mind of the demon. "He knows nothing. Ludlow has been dead for nearly five years now and the school hasn't hosted proper classes since then. Everything has gone awry since the death of their leader and became just as disorganized as Magic School was. Does that answer satisfy you, Billie?"

"I suppose," Billie meekly responded.

Cameron now spoke to the demon, "Get the hell out of here. I may have saved your life for now, but just consider this a ten second head start. I have no control over what she does to you in...five...four...three," and the Phoenix's hands dropped as the demon shimmered out of his grip.

Billie folded her arms, "Mind telling me how you were able to access his mind? Are you psychic?"

"Not so much psychic, but I've just trained myself to read into the minds of people that generally don't expect it. He's one of the idiot demons that didn't have any psychic barriers to defend himself from getting invaded and it was as easy as entering a door with the right key. What lead you to this place?" Cameron explained and asked.

"I'm just trying to figure out more about what happened with my sister. Now that I have you, maybe you can go more into how you knew about the firestarters. I've been staying up every night and I would rather hug my blanket than a cup of coffee," the young witch said. "If you can't help with that, maybe you can help me blow down Ludlow's door because that thing is budged shut."

"Lead the way and I'll see if I can help," Cameron said, following Billie as she eagerly walked out of the room to lead him. "As for the firestarter issue, I would have to check a personal book of mine again. I have very little experiences with firestarters, but know of the stories my mother has told me. She once got into a pretty fierce battle one time with a Dark Elemental of Fire."

Billie was surprised this mystery man was sharing anything about his life, but realized she may have just misjudged him. She reached the door and pounded on it with her fist. She then turned the knob and said, "I've tried projecting the damn thing open, but nothing. What's the deal?"

Cameron walked over to the door and slowly waved his hand over it, tapping into his sensory abilities. He ran his hand up and down a couple of times before saying, "You're not getting through that door. The only way to open it would be with an explosive potion that had ingredients that are unknown to this era and they would have to settle in an ectoplasmic juice for nearly a century and call me crazy, but I doubt that you're going to live that long."

She rolled her eyes at his last comment. "An ectoplasmic juice? What could be so important that you would need to go through all of that?" Billie asked, interested. "What the hell are you? A witch? Sorcerer?"

Cameron ignored her questions about who he is for now, knowing he would answer them at a later point. "Some people have treasures that they don't want revealed to the world and others may use it to contain a great evil or even a great _good_. The possibilities are endless. The way this door works is that it has a phasing effect. When allowed, people are able to walk through the door and will emit a glow if they are carrying a weapon." The young Phoenix waved his hand over the door once more. "I sense some reconstruction of this door, it may have been destroyed at one point, but these doors have a tendency to build up once again if no one is in the room. I hope that you can at least sleep at night knowing that no one is trapped in there."

"All I wanted were some books and some knowledge to my problem. Think you can help me out there and meet me some where?" Billie asked.

Cameron nodded, "Meet me in the library of Magic School. I have a couple of things to tend to before I can be there, but I should have some information for you. Don't hang around here and bully anymore demons. You might just find yourself bullying the one that has the power to defeat you."

He turned on his heel and exploded into a twister of black molecules that phased through the walls, flying to a destination that would remain unknown to Billie.

**(X)**

Two columns of orbs ascended into the heavens. Kyle and Paige were welcomed by the everlasting mist with a gentle breeze that cycled the mist around all rooms and corridors.

"I miss orbing," Paige said, pouting.

"Really? We've been orbing around for about an hour with no success to our objective. I would've thought you'd be tired of it by now," Kyle speculated.

"Tired of it? You can never be tired of orbing with having to pay for gas these days," Paige quipped, looking around to find Sandra.

"Paige, I really don't want the Elders to know that I'm failing in finding the Guardian as of this moment. Can we possibly give it another hour? Or two?" Kyle hated having to watch Whitelighters disappoint the Elders. He never wanted to endure the shame of letting them down with the failure of tending to a charge and losing them.

"Don't worry so much. Sandra and I are two peas in a pod. I scratch her back and she scratches mine," Paige said. "There are a couple of Elders up here though that I absolutely refuse to send birthday cards."

The two continued to walk, passing by several Whitelighters before one stepped in their path. He was in the standard white robe with his hood over his head and his face couldn't be seen as a brilliant gold light concealed him. He pushed back his hood and revealed the rude Whitelighter that Paige encountered the day she was assigned to Rose.

"Did you finally get your powers back?" He sniped. "Too bad for me. I was under the impression that I could continue to get some more respect around here. In your absence, I spoke with the Elders that I am capable of handling tougher charges and they've now learned that I can be trusted. I've earned my way as opposed to you. Your title alone gained you respect whereas I had to sweat my way to get where I am."

"I'm _proud_ of you," a sarcastic Paige replied. "Mind getting out of my way? If you care to just stick around for some gloating rants, I can tell you about the time that I vanquished the Source or when we took out Zankou. The stories are both pretty intense. If you're up for suggestions, I'd say the Zankou story has much more promise."

"Paige, don't pay him any mind. He's like this with everyone. I have no clue as to how he became a Whitelighter," Kyle commented.

"I became a Whitelighter because I did a great deal of good back in my time. More good than you'll ever know of. You only came into your Whitelighter status because the Elders would come off as pompous jerks if they didn't acknowledge you weakening the Avatars," the Whitelighter defended.

"The Elders come off as jerks regardless," Paige shot back. "Now get out of my way before I _move_ you myself. I can always blame my temper on my pregnancy."

The Whitelighter remained silent. He stepped aside and Paige walked straight with Kyle following her.

"Remind me not to piss you off," Kyle joked.

"I wouldn't have really thrown him out of the way, but figured that a threat might do the trick." Paige spotted Sandra conversing with two Whitelighters, but Paige and Kyle both stood out from the entire crowd as they weren't wearing the standard robes. Kyle only wore his robe when he was resting with the others, here in the heavens, but there was no getting Paige to wear one.

Sandra held her hand up to Paige and Kyle to wait for her as she told the two Whitelighters, "Return to your chambers. We'll discuss the best way to go about this when I'm done meeting with two allies here. Just meditate and make sure your charges remain safe from those Darklighters." Sandra seemed to glide towards Paige and Kyle as she was in her usual white robe that had the thick gold lining falling down the middle. Her golden locks stopped bouncing once she reached Paige and Kyle. "I see you two have reunited. Under the circumstances, I doubt the other Elders will mind."

"Yeah, we had a very Oprah reunion. What brought us back together was this Hollow business. We need some help with locating this Guardian," Paige explained.

"We must follow the procedure like last time. We're given three days to start this whole event and we must select one Whitelighter to seek out a Guardian on behalf of Good. Demons have been alerted that they need to select one as well, but it is unclear as to whether or not they have yet. I'll be sending out for a Messenger soon," Sandra informed.

"Why three days?" Paige asked. This was an answer that Kyle already knew, but failed to inform.

"To represent the nature of time; past, present and future. On the first day we reflect on the past chaos that comes with the Hollow being unleashed and we use it as a reminder as to why we need these Guardians. On the eve of the first night, we select someone to find the next representative Guardian for Good and we figured you would've stepped up to the plate, but without your powers we needed a new choice. And that was Kyle. On the second day, the search begins and on the third day we crown the Guardian with a halo that helps them get through the countless years. It keeps them from growing insane of losing grasp of time, companionship, and love."

Paige turned to Kyle who returned to a state of silence. "I think I'm beginning to understand why people aren't jumping at this position. It must bring comfort to have that halo, but going into it beforehand must be terrifying." She turned back to Sandra, "Are you forbidden from giving suggestions? Can't we just announce what's going on and see who's willing?"

"It's just not the way it's done, Paige. And we're going to need someone who's willing to do it within two hours. It's to be done at six 'o' clock. You should be on your way if you're too succeed," Sandra informed. "And, Reynold, I need a word with you."

Paige turned around, confused as to who she was addressing and realized it was the Whitelighter she exchanged words with. "Maybe you have a new charge. You gotta love the cycle of Whitelighter life." Paige placed her hand on Kyle's shoulder and patted it. "Beam us out, Kyle." The two vanished in joint columns of orbs.

Sandra raised her head as she spoke with Reynold. "You'll be content to know that you are being promoted. The Council of Elders, with my vote included, have decided that you would be perfect for the job as a Messenger."

"You want me to be a Messenger? I'm delighted to accept," Reynold said. "It's been a while since anyone has been promoted for this job. I believe it to be six decades. I've almost forgotten everything that occurs with one. They're always too busy and you never really have the time to stop and discuss what they do in their line of work."

"Well, if you need a reminder, you are a personal messenger for us Elders. We'll often call upon your services to get a message out to demonic councils and other members of the magical community if we wish to call upon a meeting. Demonic councils and other upper level Evil beings can call upon your services as well to reach us for a message. We provide you with the power of the messenger god Hermes and since he was immortal, as long as you are on duty, you can't be harmed by Darklighter poison or demons. We know how risky it is to allow one of our own to be called upon by Evil, so we made sure that little clause was suitable. Do you accept this responsibility?"

"I'm ready for my suiting."

**(X)**

In the Magic School library, Billie was sitting down at a table alone and ran her hand through her blonde hair. She was looking into a book that spoke of telekinesis. It was just a subject that entertained her as all the books about firestarters in the Magic School archives didn't help her. The young witch remembered that it was about this time a year ago where Leo told Billie that Magic School used to teach Advanced Telekinesis classes and this was one of the text books.

A swarm of buzzing black molecules appeared before Billie and they spun around before coalescing into Cameron. "Sorry I took so long. I had a job that needed to be taken care of."

"Can you just tell me what you are? I see you working alongside me until I find my sister and I would like to make sure that I'm not working with some homicidal sorcerer that just wants to get me alone in an alley to kill me," Billie replied.

"If it'll put an end to all your questions for now, I'll tell you. I'm a mercenary; a gun for hiring," Cameron answered.

"Really? Would I be expected to share your calling card with a demon?" Billie questioned, losing trust in Cameron.

"If you're trying to ask me if I kill members of Good, then yes. Only under special circumstances though," Cameron admitted. "I thought I was here to answer your questions, not for questioning. You choose what we're going to be doing here."

Billie gave in. "Fine. What do you have for me?"

Cameron pulled out a seat and sat down. He crossed one arm over his broad chest and kicked up his legs, resting his black boots on the brown table. With his free arm, he gently cupped the air and a book appeared in a pale yellow light. The book was six inches in length and two inches in width. The small tome had a black leather cover with a golden eye of Horus design to represent protection. "I've folded over the page for you. Thank me later."

Billie picked up the book and opened it. She was immediately taken to the page and read aloud, "Firestarters throughout time have always been rare and coveted beings. Their powers manifest at a young age and can be trained to be ultimate fighters. Once a firestarter embraces their full power their bodies take on a fiery form. It would take a blizzard to weaken them, but don't feel safe with an average ice spell. A weakness for firestarters is actually fire from other firestarters. If you're fighting a gang of firestarters, manipulate them into using their powers against each other to ultimately destroy them. Using the fire of a firestarter against themselves will not kill them, but destroy their body."

She stopped reading and looked up at Cameron, "Oh, don't stop now. There's more."

Billie resumed reading, "The firestarter lore is that they shouldn't have to fear their own power and aeons ago, charms were invoked into firestarters when they first showed signs of their power that keep them safe with the Living Flame. The Living Flame is the symbol that firestarters cannot be extinguised from their power and their bodies will always regenerate." The page ended there. She looked to Cameron and asked, "Would you happen to know if that applies to witches that happen to be half-firestarter?"

"I don't know," Cameron answered. "It's possible because from what I know about your sister, she was well versed with her power. There's no doubt that she was trained to use it. I spoke with my mother as well to see what she knew and she educated me in the background of why the Living Flame was created. First off, it was tested by the sorcerers who originally created the charm and they were blowing up firestarters left and right. That's why they are so coveted in this day because so many were lost because of experimenting the ability of the Living Flame. For those that weren't killed, they were later found with a loss of memory and their bodies would regenerate in different parts of the world. So if Christy is still alive, she might not have her memory and could be in England, Japan, or closer than you might think."

Billie closed the book and slid it across the table. She jumped out of her seat and asked, "And how the hell do I find her? They must've used some method to keep them lo-jacked."

"From what I've been told, they used some sort of stone. The problem is that these stones are protected by pretty fierce firestarters. The most ancient of firestarters to be exact. They're designated in some other dimension. I'm not sure about the other residents in the dimension, but they reside in some castle that is protected by several firestarters as well as other demons, beings, and traps," Cameron explained. "It wouldn't be easy to obtain one of these stones. I would've suggested you to use that little projection power of yours, but it wouldn't do us any good as I'm sure the sorcerers that are enslaved in the castle would've cast some protective shield against summoning spells."

Billie then walked around the table and looked down at Cameron, "Would you be able to take me there? I need to get my hands on one of those things."

Cameron grabbed his book off of the table and rose to his feet. "Yeah, I guess I can help. I'm in the mood for a good fight, but understand it won't be easy to get into that dimension though and we won't be able to just teleport back and forth whenever we want to sleep. I'll have to pack for camping, get some potions ready and other equipment we might need on this journey."

"I can make the potions!" Billie eagerly offered. "Just how long until we leave? I want to let Paige know."

"Within the week. I have a few things I'll need to get done sooner, but I'll be capable of fighting. Be sure to rest up and pack any arsenary you feel comfortable with. We're in for one hell of a fight," Cameron said before leaving Billie in his usual fashion.

Billie was left standing alone, wondering why he was so willing to help her. She now knew he was a mercenary, but what was the payment he was expecting?

**(X)**

Reynold orbed into the Underworld and immediately looked around the lair he was in. It was darker than many of the others and if it wasn't for Reynold's golden robe illuminating a short distance around the newly promoted Messenger he would be blind. The soft pale glow accompanied the Whitelighter whereever he went and he tried to find the other presence that he was sent to meet. A loud scream caused Reynold to take a step back in fear and he was preparing to orb out, until a voice spoke out to him.

"What is it you want, Messenger?" A familiar and brute Darklighter walked out of a pitch black corner, but his face was the only thing visible to Reynold. The markings on the left side of his face surprisingly stuck out on the demonic Darklighter.

Reynold took a deep breath before speaking, "Uh...The Elders want to know if you have selected a Guardian to be the representative for Evil yet? Time is running out."

"Oh, Whitelighter. You're mistaken. I'm not the one you go to for this information. You must be searching for the Council Leaders. Your orbing was a bit off. Nonetheless, I prefer a newbie than that wretched Witchlighter," Avo said, cursing Paige's name.

Reynold smirked and it was finally a new face to replace his fear. "You hate her as well?"

"I'm Evil. Of course I hate her," Avo replied. "The question is if you share my dislike for her and why?"

"I really shouldn't be speaking to you about this. It's none of your concern," Reynold said. "I should go."

As the Whitelighter turned around, Avo said, "You must hate the attention she robs from the other Whitelighters, don't you?" Reynold stopped. "I'll take your silence as a confirmation. Whitelighters shouldn't have to be taking on all the safe charges while she gains the credit for stronger charges. She's not even as good as she thinks she is or as the Elders think she is. You do know about that charge she lost to Evil, right?"

Reynold nodded, understanding. "She did mess up, didn't she?"

"She lost that charge to me. She's over here actually," Avo stretched out his arm and a ripple of light revealed the lair grounds. The floor was a sandy orange color and Rose was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. She was barely wearing anything. Her chest was bare and black rags covered her lower region while her black hair was blowing with the Underworld wind. "Rose...tell me about this new presence you are sensing. Don't use your clairvoyance, but only the teachings I have introduced to you for now."

Rose remained still. She wasn't allowed to use her power of clairvoyance and normally, she'd tap into her power to see things through the eyes of another, but Avo forbade it. Instead, she sensed the presence and said, "He's a Whitelighter. He's new to his power, but not his Whitelighter powers. This is his first assignment as a Messenger."

"Very good," Avo complimented. "Return to your meditating." The Head Darklighter grinned at Reynold, "Rose here is going to be a powerful force in the coming months. I'm offering you the chance to join our side because once Rose takes in an ancient power, your side is going to be in for a huge battle. A war is on the horizon. What side do you want to be on?"

**(X)**

Two columns of orbs appeared on the highest tower of Golden Gate Bridge and Paige and Kyle instantly separated.

"Alright, we need to call on some big guns because it seems every Whitelighter, witch and do-gooder refuses to camp out in a cave for the rest of their natural and unnatural lives. Who else should we consider?" Paige asked.

Kyle shrugged, "I have no idea. I kinda came to you for help, remember?"

"Okay, well I've pretty much used out all my connections. I could go and see the leprechauns and fairies, but not only do I doubt them willing to do it, I don't think they are capable of it," Paige complained, pacing back and forth with the autumn winds blowing her red hair around. "The Elders aren't allowed to help us, but I really doubt that Team Evil played this game by the rules. They must've used the connections that councils in the Underworld must have. We need to go above the Elders' heads."

"What do you have in mind? I'm getting desperate here," Kyle said.

Paige began to rub her chin and said, "You're not going to like it. In fact, I should take a couple of steps back because you might backslap me for suggesting it." Paige took two steps back.

"Paige, I wouldn't hit you. Don't be so crazy, what is it?"

"Okay, but I'm filing a lawsuit against your dead butt if you even so much raise a hand at me," Paige took a deep breath and finally said, "We'll ask the Avatars for help."

Kyle immediately looked disgusted at the thought of summoning the beings responsible for his death. "How can you even suggest that, Paige? Beta killed me! She took us away from each other!"

"Kyle, I was upset about that too. We have to move on and let's face it, we need their help! I was...devastated when you died and I was close to just killing an Avatar out of revenge. It took my sisters to hold me back, but in the end, I realized I couldn't be so selfish to my wants and had to save the world. It's the price we pay for being agents of Good and we have to put our emotions aside to achieve what needs to be done. You know how important it is to guard the Hollow, you wouldn't have taken up this assignment otherwise. You have to see past your anger so we can do this," the witch explained.

"But, Paige...I'm only angry because they took away what could've been. Imagine what life would've been like if I was alive and we were still together..." Kyle started.

"Kyle, don't. Just _don't_. It's not fair to my husband, the father of my child, and more importantly, the man that I love _now _ if we even touch this conversation. You said you needed my help and I'm fine with that, but I want to help as a _friend_. Nothing more," Paige said, devastating the man before her.

Kyle weakly replied, "I'm sorry and I understand. Summon them."

Paige couldn't bear to see the hurt expression on his face and turned her back to him as she created a spell off the top of her head.

_I call forth in this dire hour,_

_Avatars of Force and Power,_

_Overlooking duality,_

_Bring forth those of neutrality!_

Two slow gray lights began to glow and ultimately formed the head Avatar and someone new to Paige. Alpha was in his usual black robe that resembled a trench-coat with the jacket collar. His black hair was greased back and his sides were gray, to show just how old this being was. The new Avatar had golden blond hair and the same robe as Alpha.

"Ah, Paige. I thought it was you who called," Alpha said. "What is it that I can possibly do for you? I assume it's safe to cross out Utopia, no?"

"Oh, that's a safe assumption. We actually need your help on something that is actually going to _help_ the world," Paige said.

"We?" Alpha said. He then turned to see Kyle. "Oh, mind my manners. I forgot to address Brody over there. And you're a Whitelighter now. Congratulations are in order but something tells me that you wouldn't be so open to what I have to say on the matter."

"Why would I? Your kind is the reason I'm dead! I'm just glad that I was able to help put an end to your _perfect_ world," Kyle stated. "My death had purpose. I realize that more than ever now."

"Brody, you still don't seem to understand what we were trying to accomplish with Utopia. As you shall very know, Avatars don't believe in the categories of Good and Evil and we were trying to create a world that was safe for everyone. You could've been a part of that world, living a life with Paige here, but you refused. You took matters into your own hands and that resulted in your death as well as the lost of our sister Beta," Alpha said. He then turned to the younger Avatar, "Delta here is my apprentice and we've been training him to be the latest replacement of our personal triad. He's a breath away from completing his training."

Delta nodded, "Thank you, Alpha. I can only hope I don't let our order down. Perhaps for now, we can see what assistance we can provide for the Charmed One and Whitelighter here."

"Of course. What is it that made you think to summon us, Paige?" Alpha asked.

"I know you guys may be neutral, but you monitor all magic searching for people strong enough to join your little power club. Since not everyone shares your views on neutrality, you must recruit people that were originally dedicated to one cause. Am I right?" Paige asked.

"You are correct. Cole Turner would be a prime example of someone who was originally Evil, then turned Good and then went completely insane with great confusion. Nonetheless, whatever side he was on, he favored one as opposed to sharing the beliefs of both. It's unfortunate that his being an Avatar is what drove him to his demise," Alpha said.

"Wait. Hold your horses there," Paige said, waving her finger at the Head Avatar. "Cole joined your little collective? Is that how he made that funky universe a few years back?"

"Yes. I advised against it with all my efforts, but he already had the power as well as his own agenda in mind. We had unfortunately lost a brother, but I'm glad you made your way into that world to put an end to it. I think it is safe to say that you would've prefered what you consider to be the twisted version of Utopia as opposed to a world where you're six feet under," Alpha speculated. Paige remained silent and Alpha spoke again, "Now that you've educated yourself further, tell me now what it is you want."

Paige's red hair continued to blow with the winds as the meeting went on. She pulled a strand out of her face that had been bothering her for a couple of minutes and said, "We need to find a candidate that is worthy of defending the Hollow as a Guardian for Good. I was hoping that you'd be able to possibly point us in the direction of someone who is capable of this position."

"Good and Evil. Not to sound like a broken record, but how many times need I say what useless categories they are. You fight a battle that is neverending, you lose people in the crossfire..." he turned to Kyle and resumed, "You need someone who is much stronger to defend the Hollow. That's a power that should never be unearthed from its sacred burial grounds and perhaps you can change the rules. I can gather an Avatar to defend it and they will be able to stop anyone from calling it and if someone dares to enter the grounds to rob it, you'll have a true guardian that can defend it with the vast multitude of powers we possess. What say you to that?"

"No!" Kyle shouted. "I put my foot down at that. We're not going to place the responsibility of the Hollow into your hands. We put the world into your hands and we all know how that didn't turn out to be the greatest of moves. And now you expect us to leave you in charge of the Hollow? Hell no! The Hollow would decimate us if you guys unleashed it upon mankind for not going along with your Utopia. I'm protecting the Hollow from you!" His face was red of anger and his green eyes never left the brown eyes of Alpha.

"Kyle, calm down," Paige said. She was aware of just how dangerous the Avatars were. They may say that they don't use their powers for harm, but she's seen the aftermath of when they do fight back. She didn't want to see Kyle lying cold dead on the floor again.

"Brody, if we Avatars ever wanted to use the Hollow we could pass through whatever defenses you make. We can bend time, change reality and we can certainly dispel the Guardians of their protective charms. Unleashing the Hollow wouldn't be the wisest of moves for us as we don't wish to lose our vast abilities," Alpha explained. "You're just being feeble minded and refuse to see the bigger picture of a better world."

"No," Kyle replied. "I refuse to see the bigger picture of an _Avatar_ world!" Kyle latched onto Paige and the two shot up into the air in rapid orbs, ascending high before vanishing from the Avatars completely.

**(X)**

Kyle and Paige reappeared on the Hollow's grounds. The lair was dark and there were other presences in the room. Odin was in his regular robes alone on the right side of the lair with anger written all over his face. On the left side were two demons. The taller demon was in a crimson red robe with a hood concealing his face and the second demon had on a full leather attire; gray v-neck vest and black pants.

Paige slapped Kyle on the chest and said, "You let your anger get the best of you."

Shocked she hit him, Kyle said, "Paige, I had to. I couldn't allow them to take control over an agreement that was set aeons ago and honored between Good and Evil."

"Oh, believe me. This deal hasn't always been honored. The Source..."

"I know he went and broke the rules at his own desperation, Paige," Kyle interrupted. "I know. I'm well informed on the subject, but I wasn't going to allow them to do it. I'm desperate myself, but I have a better resolution on how to handle this." He remained silent, waiting for Paige to say something.

"And what exactly do you plan on doing?" Paige asked. He didn't answer. "Kyle..."

He took a deep breath and finally said, "I'm going to offer up myself as the next Guardian. My perspectives are clear now and I now realize that you're happy with the way your life is now. My love for you is what made living this second life worth it. It's been very empty at the same time though, Paige. And you're married now so I've become more forbidden than ever to ever touch your lips again. I wouldn't want to disrespect you or the man you are with by trying to get back together with you. Our time has passed. It's time that I accept that."

Paige's brown eyes were swelling up with tears as Kyle touched her face with his palm. He gently slid it down her cheek one last time and turned on his heel, moving towards Odin. A tear rolled down the cheek that Kyle was touching seconds ago and she wiped it with her brown sleeve. She chased after Kyle and saw Odin nod.

"Very well," the Elder said. "I suppose you can be accepted for this position. I commend you for taking on this task to ensure the safety of us all. You truly are a Guardian of this world." Odin shook Kyle's hand and the two walked towards the demons, leaving Paige standing by herself.

Odin looked to the demon that was wearing the crimson robe and said, "This is my Guardian. We're now ready to do this. Need anymore time, Calvon?"

The crimson robe demon Calvon snarled, "No, let's just begin this now."

Odin and Calvon stood directly across from each other. Calvon held out his hand and conjured a fireball. The fireball had a metallic sphere rolling around with the fire and he threw the fireball in the center of the lair. It illuminated the dingy lair and created warmth for the soon-to-be Guardians. Odin gently waved his wrist and a lightning bolt ejected from his palm and into the large doors, slowly opening them

Odin and Calvon each held out one hand and the box which contained the Hollow flew out of the blinding white room and onto a four foot pillar. "Kyle, place your hand on the top of the box," Odin instructed.

"Do the same," Calvon said to his demon.

Kyle and the demon placed a hand on the brown box that had jeweled carvings on the front. While the box wasn't anything dull to look at, it contained one of the greatest Ultimate Powers ever revealed to mankind. No other Ultimate Power could be more of a threat than what was trapped in that very box.

Odin then gave the next instruction, "Since the Hollow is currently contained, you two are to chant the spell on the box. By doing this, the Hollow will know you as the people defending it. Don't think that means it will like you two, in fact, it'll hate you for protecting it from being released, but you'll be safe with the powers that come with the box. The box itself will endow you with the abilities needed to cancel out any summonings."

Calvon continued, "And if for any reason the Hollow does escape, you two are to work together to chase after it and restore every lost particle. If you are to lose a single speck, it can tap into a weaker power and ultimately grow. You two need not be responsible for such fallibility with the powers given to you. We've even taken the liberty of invoking the box with stronger containment charms and powers for the Guardians to avoid the calamity that came with the Hollow the first time around. Now chant."

Kyle and the demon looked to the back of the box and chanted, "Aboleo exitum cavium du eternias!"

The demon glowed a faint purple and was now wearing a traditional black robe, now imbued with the powers of the Guardian for Evil.

Kyle's glow was anything but faint. A gold light entombed him as his casual wear morphed into a white traditional robe and the gold light was just about to leave him, but stopped above his head. It spun around and turned into the halo that promised Kyle that he would remain capable of doing this job.

The Hollow then slowly raised from its pillar and motioned backwards into its chamber. The doors closed behind it and locked it, hopefully for an eternal slumber. Despite having new Guardians, there were no promises.

Paige cried for Kyle, knowing that he never would with that halo hovering over his head. He would be at peace with what he was doing. Odin approached her and understood the situation.

"You should understand, Paige, that Kyle is very courageous in what he's doing. He's going to make a difference. I'm sure you would've liked to be with him after he was made into a Whitelighter, but in the long run, he wasn't meant to be a father or husband. It appears the Grand Design wished that he would continue to protect the world," Odin said. "Come. I'll orb you home."

Paige and Kyle locked eyes. She paid no mind to the demonic Guardian standing alongside him, but stared at that courageous angelic Guardian. She saw him mouth, "I..." before Odin took ahold of her and orbed her away. Paige would forever now wonder what Kyle was going to say. The options were endless, but she knew they could've been narrowed down between "I'll miss you" or the even grander "I love you." It was better to wonder than to know.

**(X)**

Later that night, Paige was sitting on her bed with her Book of Shadows. Her art supplies were spread amongst the brown comforter covers and she was drawing on a page with a yellow stencil. Her wrist was moving in a circular motion when Henry entered. He leaned against the archway and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Paige told Henry the entire story about her and Kyle in the past and how her emotions were jumping around earlier in the day. "I'm doing better, thanks. I have to also thank you for being so understanding on me working alongside an ex-love. Love wasn't a subject that I could exactly care about when I was younger and I've only had a few loves; Glen, Kyle, and now you."

"You have good taste," Henry said. "This guy sounds pretty brave and dedicated to his work to do what he's doing. You should be honored to have a known a man like that. I think it would've been cool to meet him. There's always this Glen guy though."

"You wouldn't happen to want to know these guys to collect dirt on me, would you?" Paige said with the first smile since leaving the Hollow grounds.

"_Who_? _Me_? Of course not," Henry playfully replied. "So what are you working on in your Book now?"

"I'm creating a new illustration for the Guardians of the Hollow. I drew the demon's face to the best of my memories, but I have to say I've done more than a fair job for Kyle. I'm just finishing his halo now and then I'm going to write some information about him," Paige explained. She noticed slight discomfort in Henry's face and said, "I don't have anymore feelings for him. I honestly don't, Henry. I think this is just the perfect closure for a wound that never fully closed. I'll admit to you that there were nights last year where I wanted him to just orb into my bed and hold me, but that never happened. Now that I've seen him and know that he's being locked away on duty, I can continue to rest now and just pray for him. I just don't want him to be forgotten and I actually know him. I can educate the future generations about him."

"I believe you, Paige. And besides, you couldn't possibly love another man after I'm done with the baby's room. I might need the rest of this week, but it'll be ready for the coming months," Henry informed.

"Thank you. We have a bunch, bunch, and an added _bunch_ of time before we actually need it. Just rest now," Paige suggested.

"I'm actually pretty excited about this. I think I'm going to work on it some more," Henry said cheerfully, exiting the bedroom.

Paige resumed working on the entry and colored a little more yellow into the halo and tossed it into the pile of the other colors she used, which also happened to be sitting next to the rest of the class exams she didn't finish grading. She was now finished with her entry though and that mattered to her more for the moment. She eyed her handy work and the image of the Guardians was spread across two pages. On the right side was Kyle's page that showed him in his white robe with his halo above his head and the face was a perfect match. There was still space on the sides to write her information and the title of his page was _Angelic Guardian_. And this was the only page she cared to stare at.

A breeze entered her bedroom through the open window and she stood up, moving the Book off of her lap and onto the bed. She looked up into the night-sky and tried to see past the stars to find Kyle, but naturally had no success. She turned around and looked to her bureau where she saw Kyle's snow-globe resting in front of her mirror. Paige ran it by Henry before doing so, but he knew how sentimental it was to her and had no objection. Paige would forever keep it safe.

**(X)**

In the Underworld, Avo continued to train Rose. She was currently fighting off three demons that were created from a simulation spell of Avo's. Two of them created fireballs and launched them at Rose. Rose countered them with a backflip and the fireballs decimated the demons. One demon remained and Rose released a sapphire fireball upon landing and vanquished him.

"That was easy," Rose breathed. Avo agreed with her with a simple nod, but Rose didn't even ask him to conjure more demons. She sensed another presence in the room. "The Whitelighter has returned, Avo."

Reynold revealed his cover by uncloaking himself. He walked towards Avo, but didn't say anything.

"Great job, Rose," Avo complimented. "You'll be prepared for Valen's power soon enough." He then turned to Reynold. "And you...what brings you back here? Were you thinking about my proposal?"

"I sure have," Reynold admitted.

"And what do you have to say on the subject?" Avo asked.

"My services are yours. If you so wish, I can infiltrate the heavens and find out any knowledge you want," Reynold offered.

"This is going to be the start of a very powerful alliance," Avo said with a devilish grin. He offered his hand out to Reynold, "We're going to do great things together."

Reynold nodded and shook his hand.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I have to thank **Temporal Death **for helping me piece that Avatar-summoning spell together. I was at a lost, and he helped me out. **Also, **Im going to dedicate this chapter to **MissyPaige** because her reviews made me bump up this Hollow-Kyle storyline quicker because she is a huge Kyle-Paige fan.

Please **Review.**__


	13. The Ultimate Innocent

**A/Note:** I'm going to keep this short. Thanks for all the positive feedback with Chapter 12. I really appreciate it, guys. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please Review when done.

**Chapter 13- The Ultimate Innocent**

**November 20th, 2006**

Henry's brown company car was rolling down the street with Henry's hands curled around the black leather steering wheel. Paige sat beside him in the passenger seat and the both of them were scanning for someone out their windows. The traffic light moved from green to yellow and Henry slowed the car down. The yellow light shifted to red and Henry stopped the car right under the traffic light.

"Henry, we'll find him. Don't worry," Paige said. It was a windy day and she had on a lime green jacket with a black maternity shirt underneath. Her black jeans were tight at the ankles and there was no way for the cold wind to gain any access. While releasing her red hair from its ponytail to allow warmth for her neck, she said, "Maybe we should try the lot next to the bar again."

"He wouldn't be there," Henry said. "The last time I spoke with Keith, he stopped drinking and was just making better choices for himself. His son really brought that upon him. The boy already lost his mother to this gang and I don't want him to lose his father as well."

"It's just the common nature of gangs. You get initiated and the only way they let you out is to kill or be killed. I got to say, gangs are a lot like demons," Paige said.

The traffic light turned green and Henry continued to drive. "Too bad you can't cast some of your hocus pocus on the gang." He then turned to her for a quick second before watching the road again, "Are you sure you can't cast some happy spell on these guys? At least long enough until we find Keith and get him the hell out of San Francisco is all I'm asking for."

"I wish I could, but we shouldn't risk anything that might backfire on Keith. Let's just go back to the station and see if you have anything of his in your office so I can scry for him," Paige said. "For all we know he's out of San Francisco already."

"Paige, he's still here. He was spotted yesterday at his old apartment building, my main concern is if he's still alive. I think he was there to get some of his things for the kid," Henry supposed. He then stopped for another traffic light. "You have to get back home to see Billie off, right?"

"I do, but this is more important. Billie's capable of looking after herself and I've spoken with this Cameron guy and he seems trustworthy. He's going to be able to help Billie, but now I need to help you. The Elders assigned me Keith as a charge because they obviously see good in him. You should be proud that you've turned his life around that much to the point where he might become a future Whitelighter after he dies," Paige said. She then looked out onto the streets through her window again, "And hopefully that's not anytime soon."

"Yeah, but the Elders also wanted you to work with a charge to help you get your powers back," Henry reminded, returning to driving at the signal of the green light.

"That may be the case, but they aren't setting me up for this just because they want me to have my powers back. I'll admit, they tend to have their ulterior motives, but not on this," Paige said. "I just have a feeling that we're working with something even grander."

Henry gave her a quick smile. "I'm glad though that we're able to spend this time together. For once we're working, but we get to do it together." She smiled back and him and Henry expressed his other concern, "I'm still not completely comfortable with you being pregnant while we look for a guy that's being chased by a gang though."

"If a bullet comes my way, I'll move it to another direction. It's as simple as that," Paige informed. "We should just head to your office now. I'll try and scry with a paper that he's even signed or something. Hopefully I'll get some signal, even if it's faint."

"We'll go to his apartment. It just hit me that if he was in fact spotted yesterday, there is a good chance that there is still furniture in the house. I can get there in ten minutes," Henry said.

Paige then dug into her dark green leather purse and pulled out a violet crystal. "I'll be able to scry right there."

Henry then stepped harder on the gas and they took off faster than they had all morning.

**(X)**

Paige and Henry reached Keith's apartment building and were already inside. They stepped into the filthy elevator and Paige looked at the buttons. Some were flickering a faint orange while the others didn't even have button caps. "I hope Keith lives on the second, third, or sixth floor because otherwise we're going to be stranded

"He's on the third floor," Henry said, pushing the button himself so Paige wouldn't have to dirty her finger. He then wiped the filth off on his brown leather jacket. "Even if Keith wasn't running from a gang, I'd still want him to be out of this dump." The elevator ascended slowly and the lamp in the corner would turn off for a few seconds whenever it passed by a floor.

"Henry, we're going to find him. I'll call my buddy at Social Services and see if there are any apartments that were advertised for people with children. Real estate people tend to call Social Services knowing that social workers are often searching for new places of residence for parents that are adopting and so on," Paige explained. "We're going to help him, don't worry."

Henry nodded and the elevator stopped. The door opened and the married couple walked out and looked down the hallway. A window was cracked open and the cold winds were invading the floor. Henry wrapped his arm around Paige to keep her warm and the two walked down the hallway and stopped at the third door. "This is it." He wrapped his hand around the knob and turned, but it was locked.

The mortal unwrapped his arm from Paige's shoulders and she looked at him. "Paige, get back."

"Why?" She asked, still following instructions and moved back.

Henry took a few steps back himself and took a deep breath. He charged the door with his shoulder in front of him and rammed into it. Lucky for him, the door only needed that one great push and the door swung open, but remained on its hinges. He rubbed his shoulder and wore away the minor pain that came along with slamming into the door. He turned to Paige, "Alright, stay out here for a minute."

"Why?" Paige asked again, but like the first time received no direct answer.

Henry walked into the apartment alone and left his wife out in the hallway. Within a minute's timing, he returned to the entrance and said, "It's safe. Come on."

"Ah, gang precaution," Paige said, realizing what Henry was doing. "You shouldn't have gone in there alone." She then walked in and looked around.

Henry closed the door behind her. "Of course I should've. There's no way I was letting you walk in here with a gang potentially hiding out for their target."

The studio apartment was relatively small like many others. There was a brown couch aligned one of the walls and a white crib next to the couch. The stove in the corner was sharing a counter in the kitchenette and everything was rusty. On the floor were some old shirts, the base of a pacifier and a tin cup.

"You see anything in here that you can use to scry for him?" Henry asked.

"Yeah," Paige answered. "I should be able to use one of those shirts." She walked over and picked up the base of the pacifier, "If that doesn't work, I can always use this to locate his son. Hopefully the son will lead us to him."

"Did you bring a map?" Henry asked.

Paige dug into her purse and pulled out a folded map. "This is one of San Francisco. I got an even bigger one if he's not in the area."

"Glad you came prepared. I'm going to just look around the place while you do that," Henry said. "Shouldn't take too long." He walked over to the kitchenette and opened the little fridge and saw there was nothing in there but coleslaw and roaches. Henry hated the sight of roaches, but had grown use to it for whenever he worked along someone that was in a povertous area.

Paige was sitting on the floor with the map open and spread across the floor. She had one of Keith's shirts balled up in her fist by the collar. The string for the scrying crystal was being held by three of her fingers and the crystal was spinning in a circular motion trying to locate Keith. Paige focused just on the search and had cleared her mind off everything else and that resulted in crystal spinning faster.

Henry heard the violent swishing of the crystal and just watched.

The crystal began to close in on one specific area and finally dropped. "Got it," the witch cried out. "He's at the edge of the Bay."

Henry gaped and slapped himself hard in the forehead, "Damn it."

"What? What's wrong?" Paige asked.

"I used to think that Keith was suicidal. Some people enter gangs for power, companionship, or pure recklessness. Keith didn't care for power and had some friends before joining the gang. He hated life, Paige. He didn't know what to make of it so I used to think that he understood the dangers of being in a gang, but took comfort with that threat. I think..."

"He wanted to die?" Paige continued. Henry nodded. "Did you ever catch him trying to harm himself?"

"One time," Henry said. "At the Bay."

Paige remained silent. She threw the shirt onto the floor and picked up the pacifier base. She contained it within her fist and scried for Keith's son around the same area. The crystal dropped immediately. "His son is with him. You don't think that he would do anything, do you?"

"I hope not. Let's go."

**(X)**

Henry and Paige parked on a sidewalk a couple of blocks back and we're running through a small park. The cold wind was getting to their lungs, but they knew it was worth it considering they were aiming to prevent a suicide. Just as Paige was running out of breath, they spotted a man with a little boy holding his hand.

"That's him," Henry informed.

"Yeah, I figured that already. Let's go introduce ourselves," Paige said, taking a hold of Henry's hand.

"He knows me," Henry said.

She rolled her eyes. "_Obviously_, just go and introduce me," Paige said.

They walked towards Keith and the young man jumped as soon as he heard footsteps behind him. Keith, like his son, had sandy brown hair and brown eyes. Keith's hair was brushed up and he was wearing a raggedy leather jacket with a gray punk rock shirt underneath with torn blue jeans. The little boy looked up at Paige and Henry with confusion.

Keith exasperated a deep breath of relief when he saw it was just Henry. "Henry, you scared the crap out of me."

"Keith, what are you doing here?" Henry immediately asked.

"Henry, slow down," Paige said. She then turned to Keith, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thank you. Sorry, who are you?" Keith asked.

Paige turned to Henry, "I told you to introduce me." She posed a smile and looked to Keith, "I'm Paige, Henry's wife. How have you been doing?"

"Scared. I'm forced to keep moving around because _they_ keep looking for me," Keith answered. "This isn't the life I want for my son." He then looked down at the little boy.

Paige shifted her attention to the little boy and crouched down. "Hi. How are you, sweetie? My name is Paige. What's yours?"

The boy looked up to his father, as if he needed approval to answer this. Keith nodded to him and the boy answered, "Peter."

"It's lovely to meet you, Peter," Paige said with a bright smile. She then stood up and asked Keith, "How old is he?"

"He's going to be one on Thanksgiving," Keith answered.

"I'm sorry to break all this up, but we should get out of here. Go somewhere secluded," Henry commented.

"I have nowhere to go," Keith said. "Peter and I have just been winging it day by day for the past week. We go wherever help is offered. Shelters and old friends."

"Why can't you hide out at your friend's house?" Paige asked.

"They feel like their hiding a fugitive. I asked them to at least watch over Peter, but they said it was wrong to separate us. It was just a lame excuse. They're all cowards of the gang," Keith explained. "I don't have the money to get transportation to take us over the bridge because the little I do have, it's for Peter's food. It wouldn't matter anyway...I don't even know what my next move would be."

Paige then turned to Henry, "We should take them back to Piper's. Keith and Peter can have a nice meal and rest while we figure out what to do. Little Peter here can even play with the boys."

"That sounds good," Henry said. "Go and give Piper a call."

Paige pulled out her cellphone from her purse and walked away.

"Keith, is there any reason you chose to stop by here?" Henry asked him.

"I wasn't going to commit suicide if that's what you think," Keith said. He spotted Henry's guilty face and said, "Not with Peter in my life. You know he's changed me completely to the point where I no longer jump innocent people or steal." He then turned to the Bay and stared. "I just came here to reflect because it's pretty calm here. I'm just glad that I never killed anyone as I don't think I would've been able to recover from that."

"It's good to hear that. You have your priorities checked now, but it's time to just get you out of here," Henry reminded. "This area is no good for you with your past."

"What about you?" Keith asked. "I don't mean to impose, but I noticed your wife was a little pregnant. Do you really want to raise a kid in this environment knowing the dangers?"

"Thanks for looking out for me, Keith," Henry said and turned to Paige who had her white cellphone pressed to her ear. "But my wife and I are going to tough this out. We can handle it...she's special."

**(X)**

At the Halliwell manor, Paige, Keith, Henry, and Leo were sitting at the dining room table. They were all enjoying Piper's lunch of chicken tenders which had a seasoning that complimented the bread-crumbs. Wyatt, Chris, and Peter were sitting at the children's table enjoying their cut up chicken tenders with orange juice and chocolate pudding.

Piper entered the dining room with a pitcher of iced tea and said, "It feels so good to cook for people again."

"Hey, the boys and I are _people_," Leo replied.

"Of course you are. The difference is you have no choice but to eat my food and love it," Piper said. "Keith here is new, so he's basically a critic." She placed the pitcher on the table and turned to Keith, "Care to give me my review?"

Keith stabbed a piece of the cut up chicken and raised it in the air, "Five stars. If you really care so much about critics you should be a chef." He then devoured the piece of chicken.

Piper smiled, "Thanks for the compliment and the suggestion. I do plan on owning a restaurant one day. Not sure when I'll actually do it, but you will go down as one of the people who pushed me."

"You really should. Your food is great," Keith complimented, eating some more.

"I appreciate the compliment, but I have to wonder if it's an exaggeration of you only eating hot dogs for two weeks," Piper said. She then sat down and poured herself some iced tea.

Keith chuckled at the comment.

Leo then said to him, "Would you mind telling us a bit more about what's going on right now?"

"Not at all," Keith replied. "I think it's good for me to be able to talk to people about this. My girlfriend was killed about three weeks ago and it's been a lot for me to not get revenge on these guys."

"Why did they kill her?" Piper asked.

"It's the way the gang rolls," Keith answered, no longer eating while discussing this sensitive subject. "Liberty and I met in the gang and we started dating and got pregnant. At first we were scared considering we were eighteen at the time, but our gang said that they were family and would help us out. It sounded good initially, but we both realized that we couldn't cradle our child and go shoot up blocks at night. So Liberty went into hiding and I lied and said she left."

Keith then remained quiet, remembering the girl he loved and the mother of his son.

"If it's too much to talk about it, we can wait," Paige said.

"No, no. I want to. I _need_ to," Keith said. "It was a mistake lying to them and they kept saying they would kill her for abandoning the gang. Even being pregnant wasn't a scapegoat to leaving. After she gave birth she returned to San Francisco and I got to meet my little boy. Liberty was telling me that her friends were helping her out and had even gotten her a job. She still couldn't stay here so I told her to hide out at her friend's crib and I'd catch up with her."

"It must've been hard to stay away from your son for so long," Leo commented.

"You have no idea," Keith responded back. He was unaware of magic in general and had no idea that Leo was forced to spend time away from Wyatt years back. "I would visit Peter at least once every month for a weekend. I would have to tell the gang that I was off smuggling or something."

"Wouldn't you have to get drugs to actually back that up?" Piper questioned.

Henry saw how dissapointed Keith was of himself and told Piper, "That's a different story." He turned back to Keith. "Go on."

"Okay. Three weeks ago Liberty came back to San Francisco to come and pick me up. She left Peter back at her friend's house, but the gang saw her and it was just...horrific. I'd grown use to drive-bys and shootings, but not to someone I knew so personally. All because she left to be a mother. And now they're after me for wanting to be a father."

Keith seemed to be holding back tears and turned to his son. Peter was giggling with Wyatt and Chris as Wyatt had turned on the television and the trio were watching a cartoon.

"So what do you want to do right now?" Paige asked. "You've been running around and you must have some idea with what you want to do with your life. House, apartment, anything?"

"An apartment," Keith answered. "A simple apartment with a room for my boy and it has to be far, far, away."

"We can arrange that," Paige said. "What about this gang? They have to be stopped."

Keith stared down Paige and said, "Don't go after them. They would come after your entire family. It's too dangerous. I just ask that you guys help me get situated in a safe environment."

Henry and Paige nodded. They all turned to Peter who seemed to be having the most fun in weeks with Wyatt and Chris. He was still at a very young age, but Wyatt and Chris weren't doing anything to make him uncomfortable.

Piper tapped Paige on her shoulder and said, "Can I chat with ya in the kitchen for a sec?"

"Sure." Paige stood up and the two sisters walked into the kitchen. She sat down at the island stool and rested her elbows over the center counter. "What's up?"

Piper sat down next to her and said, "Well, I needed a minute away from all the depressing talk. Life's just been so good with no demons, Leo working, the kids getting along, and P3 going well. Life's damn good right now."

"Are we rubbing that in?" Paige asked, accompanied with a chuckle.

Piper smiled, "No. Just seeing you work like this has increased my concern for you lately. You're without your powers and you got a baby on the way. I'm more concerned for the kid."

"Why? Because he or she will have me as a mother?" Paige joked.

The eldest laughed, "No. You're just in your first trimester and it's only fair that I shadow over you being the sister that has experiences with all those migraines, cramps, and nausea. How's that going for you?"

"I'm actually not puking my guts out as much as I thought I would've by now. I'm just growing and I don't mean in just size, but I'm growing sore as well. At least I can handle it since I've endured worst pain from the countless demons that played a good ol' game of gauntlet with my body," Paige said. "I appreciate the concern though and I admit, it was nice to take this break as well. I've been working more with my kids at the school than actual charges in weeks. I haven't been in my actual Whitelighter mode right lately."

"Any sign of Avo or Rose?" Piper asked.

Paige crossed her fingers, "No and I hope that a car just ran them down. Ignore me and my false hope though, but if they so much make a whisper of an appearance to me while I'm pregnant, they're going to have to take on two Charmed Ones." Piper smiled. "Oh, and by 'two' I mean you and Phoebe."

"I caught that, sis," Piper replied. "If you're growing that big now, I can only imagine how you'll be in your ninth month. Your bladder isn't going to allow you to leave the house. If Avo does make a play for you though, we'll just coop you up in Magic School like you guys did to me."

Paige then stood up and held her hand out to Piper, "Deal. I'll be too big to fight you off." Piper clasped her hand and stood up. "Your husband just better not take advantage of me there twenty-four seven and try to load off more work on me."

Piper grinned and the two locked arms as they began to walk out the kitchen, "That's Leo we're talking about. He wouldn't do that. Let's go and handle your charge now."

The two entered the dining room and Leo and Keith were tending to the kids. Henry was sitting at the table dialing a number on his cellphone. He saw Paige and said, "Perfect. Keith and I have to run to the station. He might be on the run but the captain needs to see him."

"What? Why? Isn't your word enough?" Paige asked.

"It is," Henry answered, standing up. "They need to take down a record of questioning though. If I had the paperwork with me I'd do it myself."

"Can't we just go run and get it?" Paige asked. "Damn, I miss orbing."

"Paige, I'm worried too, but the gang hasn't been spotted or up to any mischief in the last several days. They're laying low so we should take advantage of that. You're welcome to come unless you want to hang out here," Henry offered.

"No. I'll go," his wife said. "Just tell me though how we're going to tear that man apart from that child?"

Paige, Henry, and Piper turned to Keith who was cradling his son in his arms. Peter was about a foot tall, but his father was holding him as if he was just fresh out the womb. He kissed his son on the forehead and just closed his eyes.

**(X)**

After all the paperwork was done at the station, Henry, Paige, and Keith left the building and were making their way back to the car. Henry patted Keith on the back and said, "You should be happy that you're dropping parole without any required service. Apparently all the good you've been doing to clean up the messes of the Festers is what helped you there."

Paige scoffed, "Festers. What a lame name for a deadly gang."

They continued to walk down the street and Keith explained, "They chose that name because they consider releasing bullets upon people to be festering. I gotta say that it's better than other gang names as it actually has more of meaning and thought to it."

"I suppose," Paige said. "I think it's just overall ridiculous to name a clan that goes around robbing old ladies and beating up young teenagers."

"Paige, classifying a _clan_ is necessary for identification," Henry said in terms of demons. Paige nodded in agreement with her husband.

The sound of a car seemed to be closing in on the three and the engine seemed to roar as the tires burned rubber on the road. They turned around and Henry immediately grabbed his wife and jumped to the ground. He positioned himself to be the one on the bottom and the two bounced against the curb. Keith knew he didn't have enough time to jump to the side and threw himself onto the hood of the car to avoid the deadly collision. The car continued to drive forward until it smashed against the wall of an alley and Keith rolled onto the ground.

Three men in black sweatpants and beige hoodies to match their bandanas charged out of the car with guns in their possession. One held a rifle while the other two had handguns. They crowded over Keith who was bleeding from the corner of his mouth and the back of his head and cocked their ammo.

Henry helped pick Paige up from the ground and pulled out his handgun from his leather holster. "Freeze!" He wasn't about to shout it twice.

The Festers turned around and the one with the rifle furiously unleashed a great amount of bullets towards the mortal and witch. Paige held up her hands and telekinetically reversed the bullets and they flew directly into the original shooter. The bullets tore easily through the unprotected skin of the man and he fell right on his back with blood sliding out of the corners of his mouth and the same thick red liquid falling from the bullet holes. His two allies knew he was dead and held up their pistols at Paige and Henry.

Paige waved her hand as Henry unleashed a bullet and as the two men telekinetically flipped out of the way, the bullet shot into the wall. "Henry, go get Keith. I'll keep them down." Paige spotted the guns on the ground, gently swiped her hand and slid the guns out of the way. She turned around to make sure no one had seen her telekinetic act and was safe.

Henry was dragging Keith who's arms were wrapped around his shoulders. Paige ran to his side and helped take Keith away from the scene. "Paige, we have to get out of here obviously. These guys were stupid enough to attack near the station so they mean business."

"Well, the car is only at the end of this block," Paige reminded. People were looking at them drag a bloody man with great confusion. The witch looked at one woman and said, "Call the cops. They'll come running down from the station if they're not already. Hurry!"

The Festers' car then pulled out of the alley with the front greatly damaged. The mortal and witch tried to move faster and Paige let go of Keith.

"Just go. I'll handle this," she said to Henry. He was ready to refuse but realized Paige must have something up her sleeve and continued to move. She pointed her finger at the car tires and chanted:

_Wiccan spirits hear my minor desire,_

_Force an untimely halt on those tires!_

The car skidded to a hault leaving tracks behind them on the street. Paige smiled at her success and saw the two Festers jump out from the car with their guns pointing towards Paige. She rolled her hands around each other as she tried to form another spell on the spot.

_With those weapons it's lives you seek to claim,_

_I hide us from you so you have nothing to aim!_

The Festers looked around, puzzled as their targets were now cloaked from them.

Paige ran over to the car at the end of the block and jumped in the backseat with Keith. She closed the door behind her and Henry took off. "No rush, honey. They won't be able to find us for a while." This didn't stop Henry from moving as fast as he could.

On the rooftop overlooking the entire scene was Reynold. He was still in his gold Messenger robes as the Elders knew nothing of his betrayal. They still hadn't even suspected anything. He was now going to return to his new boss with the news of Paige's charge. He orbed off in the usual blue and white orbs, which were supposed to represent a being that was so pure and angelic. With Reynold they were just colors.

**(X)**

In the sunroom of the manor, Paige and Piper were sitting by Keith with a first aid kit. Paige was bandaging the back of his head as Piper was cleaning his mouth with a wet tissue. Paige finished taping the gauze to the back of his head and said, "Alright, you kinda have a bald patch in your head right now from the scar, but at least you have your life."

Keith's head was bouncing forward and he kept consistently picking it up. "I feel pretty dizzy."

"That's just the car slamming into you talking," Paige joked. Keith was in no laughing mood. "I'm just kidding. I'm really glad we were able to get you out of there, even if you aren't in the same one piece you came to us with."

"Did they really attack on the same block as the station?" Piper asked in disbelief. "Do they know no boundaries?"

"What puzzles me the most is why the cops didn't pull out a sniper rifle and get the bastards from the window. We should've had an entire fleet get these guys," Paige said.

"Paige, you get what you pay for and considering you don't have a job, you don't pay for taxes so the law feels they don't have to look over you," Piper joked.

"Cute," Paige replied. "I hope Henry is able to get in touch with someone about this apartment. I don't want him or Peter hanging around here any longer." She then rubbed Keith's back and said, "No offense, honey."

Keith was too out of it to reply. Piper helped him to his feet and said, "Come on. I'm going to take you upstairs so you can rest."

"I need to be with Peter," Keith said.

"Paige will bring him up. You guys can rest together in my room," Piper informed, leading him up towards the steps and assisting him on the way up.

Paige walked out of the sunroom and into the family room where the boys were sitting on the couch and watching television. "I cannot wait to stuff my kid in front of that wonderful babysitter." She walked towards Peter and crouched down, staring him in his brown eyes. "Hey, sweetie, are you feeling tired?"

"No," Peter said with a nod.

"Do you want to go and hang out with Daddy? He's a little hurt right now and wants to be with you," Paige said.

Peter remained silent. Hearing his father was hurt was not the thing he wanted to hear. He had already lost his mother who he was closer to and now his father was hurt. His eyes began to water and held his arms out before him.

Paige enclosed herself in his willing embrace and picked him up. He rested his chin on her shoulder and Paige just held his head. She walked out of the living room and saw Henry. "So what happened?"

"There's an apartment ready for him and Peter," Henry answered. "I'm glad this nightmare is going to be over soon. Then I'm going to hunt those guys down."

"We'll take them in a little bit. Keith is feeling out of it right now, naturally I might add, and he just wants to relax with his son. Let him feel free of all that stress for half an hour before we head onto the road," Paige suggested. "I wanted to get him out of here before, but I didn't really take how he's emotionally feeling into consideration. We're also ignoring his physical needs by not taking him to the hospital, but that's too risky. We're going to just play this out one step at a time." She proceeded with going up the steps with the little boy hugging her tightly. She didn't want to directly address it, but she knew she was feeling his tears fall against her shoulder.

**(X)**

In a secluded part of the Underworld, Avo continued to train the demonic witch Rose. Her powers were advancing at a slow, but profound rate. In months, an alliance would build with Avo and Rose leading them on the front line.

Rose was standing in the center of the cave and her eyes were open as she stood into those of her mentor. "Avo, this is ridiculous. Isn't there a better way to work on my durability?"

"If you can fight through the strain of blinking, you'll eventually be able to train yourself into fighting through the strains of swords, combustive blasts, and telekinetic attacks," Avo explained.

Rose blinked. "Damn it. What's the punishment this time? Nineteen demons?"

"At least you're learning how many enemies to anticipate upon your failure," the demonic Darklighter responded.

"It's not very hard to guess," Rose said. "You add one demon every time I screw up. Just keep in mind that in the end..." she stopped as she watched her mentor summon nineteen demons. "All these deaths are your loss."

Rose then ran towards the large pack of snarling demons and conjured a fireball along the way.

"Yes, but I'll be gaining something much greater," Avo said to himself.

Reynold orbed in beside Avo and immediately said, "I'm here to confirm her new charge."

Avo folded his arms, "I hope you're here to tell me more. She's been in activity with her charge for hours now so I was already able to find that out myself. What do you know that I don't?" The Darklighter didn't even glare down the Whitelighter in his intimidating manner as he watched Rose battle the demons that were dropping by the minute.

"A mortal gang is after the charge. They wounded him pretty bad and Paige was forced to use her witch powers in order to buy them time," Reynold informed. "It's only a matter of time until her witch powers aren't enough to save him."

Avo chuckled, "It's the perfect opening. I want you to orb around and find out more about this gang for me. Tell me how many members are in it and their location. I want this back within the next half an hour."

Reynold bowed, "I'll have it done sooner." He orbed away.

Avo watched Rose obliterate more demons. Her sapphire flames danced off of her arms and onto the demons. She was growing in her mental powers and would move the demons into each other and watched as they lit each other fire. The demonic witch was breathing hard from all the practice today, but seemed to enjoy it judging by her chilling laughter.

**(X)**

In the apartment of Harold, better known as H-Shoot to his gang, him and his posse were sitting around the living room. Guns were lying on the floor and the tables. Besides all the aresenal were several packs of heroine and cocaine. H-Shoot was pacing back and forth and delivered several colorful words. "How the hell did they get away?"

Another member, Jarod, the driver at the first encounter, cracked his knuckles and said, "It was freakin' strange. We were chasing after Keith, the cop, and his bitch, and our car just stopped. There was no flat or anything, it just _stopped_."

The guy driving shotgun, Fredo, nodded along and ignorantly said, "Then we hopped out the ride to just straight gun them down and they was out. They was just gone."

A column of inky black and purple orbs materialized in the center of the room and Avo stood there looking around. The Festers all freaked out and reached for their guns, but Avo had no worries. He snapped his fingers and all the arsenal in the room orbed away into an ether. He then looked up to the ceiling and said, "Come now."

Four Possessor Demons then shimmered in. They were close relatives to the strongest Possessor family and Avo personally selected them. By doing this, he helped them earn greater favor in the Underworld and it was all judging on how well they performed Avo's task . Their bodies fell to the floor as the demons vacated in embodiments of thick black smoke and charged into the bodies of the four Festers in the room. Their eyes shifted into marble black and their veins pounced against the inside of their skins for a second, showing a flow of black blood. Their eyes returned to normal.

"Good job," Avo said. "And now it's time for me to inform you of your objective. You are to chase down the charge of the youngest Charmed One and kill him. Without your powers is another stipulation I put upon you. I want this witch to blame herself and there is a chance she won't dwell on a death as long if she can blame demons on it. I want you to act like deadly mortals."

The demon possessing H-Shoot said, "Do you want us to just beat him around? We all have great strength and can make it look innocent from a demonic attack."

"That sounds to be a good advantage, but hold out your arms," Avo instructed. The demons obeyed and Avo snapped his fingers and the guns orbed into the possession of the demons. "Use these. If the Charmed One happens to reverse the bullets into you, you are to retreat from the bodies and allow them to die. If she sees that you survive bullets, she'll suspect that you are demons. If you perform this task without flaw I will personally speak with the demonic councils myself and inform them of your great abilities. Understand?"

The Possessor Demons nodded and Avo turned to their original bodies on the floor, waving his hand and orbing them into the Underworld to eventually awaken and die.

"Good. Now I want you to ambush them..." he said to them.

**(X)**

Henry and Paige were riding in the front of the parole officer's car with Keith and Peter in the back. Peter didn't have a safety seat but was tucked under his seatbelt with his father right beside him. The little boy had fallen asleep ten minutes back and was covered with his green blanket that had a yellow smiling sun on it.

The car hit a bump and Paige turned back to check on Peter immediately. He was still asleep and turned to Keith after admiring the blanket, "Cute blanket. Where did he get it from?"

"Me, actually. It was the blanket I first brought to him after he was born. Liberty managed to take great care of it and it's actually the reason I had gone back to the old apartment yesterday. Peter wasn't sleeping as well without it and he was crying for four days straight because of it," Keith explained.

"How long did you have that apartment?" Paige asked.

"I had it for a few months. I was using all the money I got from my drug dealings into investing into that apartment. I was hoping that Liberty would escape persecution at the mercy of being a mother and if that happened, we'd have a home. Then she was killed and I realized that nothing was safe," Keith said. "The Festers have connections with people that I don't know, but if need be, they can find out documented residences."

"You're not going to have to worry about them anymore," Henry said to him. He was driving down a lesser known lane to avoid any sightings, but the lane wasn't as empty as the previous two blocks. In the middle of the street were the Festers with three of them holding guns and one holding a bat. "Maybe I spoke too soon." He then pressed on the brakes and the car stopped.

Paige turned around to see what he was talking about and said, "Oh, crap. Run them down."

"So they can shoot us when we get close?" Henry asked. "We might need some of your _special_ help."

"I'll see what I can-" Paige was interrupted by a burst of bullets and they all took cover. The bullets blasted through the glass with ease and Keith unbuckled Peter, preparing to run with him. Paige unbuckled herself and watched Henry do the same. She turned to Keith and shouted, "Don't you dare try and make a run for it! We're going to work this out."

Peter was crying as he was interrupted from his sleep to a loud blare of bullets intended to kill his father. Keith pulled Peter to his side of the car and huddled over him.

Paige opened her car door and Henry did the same. They both knew what they had to do. Henry cocked his gun and they both nodded at each other. The two ran out of the car and Paige violently swiped the air sending all the Festers with guns into a fence. Henry shot at the one with the bat and killed him.

The two made sure he didn't get up and then turned their attention to the three gunmen. The Possessor demon sensed it to be safe to leave and vacated the body in a cloud of black smoke.

"Paige, get back to the car and drive off," Henry said.

"You're mental!" Paige shouted.

H-Shoot, Fredo, and Jarod, all still possessed, released more bullets at Paige and she ran and hid behind a postal box. Henry was still out in the open and shot a bullet into the arm of Fredo. Fredo clasped his hand around it before shooting again. The Festers dropped their guns as they were getting nowhere.

This concerned Henry. Jarod split away from the trio and ran towards Paige as H-Shoot and Fredo ran at Henry. Henry released his last bullet and Fredo dodged it. He threw down his gun and began to swing at the two demons. His right hook met the jaw of H-Shoot and he quickly swung his left fist into the nose of Fredo. The mortal continued his assault with an elbow to the rib cage of H-Shoot and threw him against the car.

Keith watched as H-Shoot's back slammed against the driver's window. He realized that Henry must be fighting them off and looked at Peter, "Look. I need you to do your best to stay quiet. I have to go and help the good cop out there. Just stay under your blanket, okay?"

Peter's bottom lip was quivering fiercely and he nodded rapidly. He lied down on the seat and Keith covered his son with the blanket. Keith ran out the door and charged to Henry's side, immediately running his leg into the abdomen of Fredo. Fredo and H-Shoot were now on the ground. "Where's Paige?"

Henry looked around and saw Paige run her fist at Jarod, but he caught it in his hand. With his other hand he grabbed Paige's throat and began to choke her. Henry ran over, picked up the bat along the way from the ground and swung it with great force into the back of Jarod. Jarod fell to the ground and Henry threw the bat at his head.

"Paige, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm fi..fine," she managed to get out. She coughed twice. "How's Peter?"

They all turned around and saw H-Shoot fire his gun. The bullets charged towards them and Henry tackled Paige to the ground and shielded her. He realized that a tackle like that could've hurt the baby as well, but he had to act fast and knew it was worth the risk. Keith wasn't so fortunate as the bullets pierced his chest.

Keith looked down in disbelief and saw the exact spots where the three bullets entered. His body remained immobile for a few seconds before he dropped to his knees. The rest of his body dropped and his face then smacked against the pavement as his eyes turned red.

"No!" Henry and Paige shouted in unison as they jumped to their feet. H-Shoot and Fredo were out of sight by the time they turned back, but they ran towards Keith. Henry turned him onto his back and saw blood slide out of his mouth as tears slid down his cheeks. Keith violently coughed as he tried to capture the air around him and blood spurted up and fell back onto his face.

Paige cried as she witnessed this gruesome and bloody struggle and put her hand to her mouth.

Henry slid his hand under Keith's head with watery eyes and said, "Just hold on, Keith. We're gonna...we're gonna get some he- help." He turned to Paige, "Try to heal him. A spell. Anything!"

Paige first placed her hands on her stomach and then quickly over Keith's cold body. The golden glow she was hoping for never appeared, no matter how many times she flicked her hands trying to magically close the wounds. "I'm so sorry, Keith."

Keith's eyelids then closed as his head slid out of Henry's palm. Paige crawled to Henry and threw her arms around him, sobbing hard. Henry then muttered, "Peter."

Paige pushed her way out of Henry's embrace and looked at him. "Oh, my God." She stood up and ran towards the car. She looked around the front and didn't see him. She looked in the back and saw his blanket and noticed it was bumpy underneath. She pulled off the blanket and saw a cowering boy who was still unaware that his father was now dead.

**(X)**

Cops were now covering the scene. Henry was currently taking a statement as a cop was sitting down next to Peter on the curb. There were two body bags being pulled into a truck; one being Keith and the other a Fester.

Paige had her cellphone to her ear and was speaking to Piper, "...And then Keith just got shot. I had no hopes of saving him whatsoever, Piper. None. This is all my fault for losing my powers and not working harder to get them back."

On the other end, Piper replied, "Paige, it's not your fault. The Elders aren't even sure about your powers, you can't blame yourself for this. How is Peter doing?"

Paige looked at the little boy in question, "He's emotionally hurt. I was holding him for a while, but he's just so confused. He's sitting down now, but there was a point where he kept trying to just run to his father. Henry and I kept him from seeing Keith, but I have no idea if the cops were so careful. I'm at a lost here, Piper."

"If you need any help, I can call Phoebe and we can all meet at the manor," Piper suggested. "Maybe playing with the boys will calm Peter down."

"That actually doesn't sound so bad. I'm sure they're going to try and toss him into the Social Services database as soon as they can, but I'm sure Henry and I can buy him some time with us saying that we actually knew Keith. I can try and scry for some other family member," the witch said back. "I'll call you back and give you the final word on what's going down."

"Sounds fine. We're all here for Peter and you guys, if necessary," Piper reminded. "Keep me updated."

"I will. Bye," Paige concluded, hanging up the phone. She saw Henry was still speaking with the police and decided to check on Peter. She walked towards the little boy. He wasn't one years old yet and life was already at a rocky start for him. She approached him and sat down beside him on the curb. She turned to the cop and asked, "Can we have a minute alone?"

The cop nodded, not strictly following his procedure of watching the child he was assigned to, but knew that Paige was a responsible figure who might be able to get Peter to talk. He walked away and left the two alone.

Paige placed her hand on Peter's leg and asked, "How are you doing, sweetie?" He didn't respond. "If you don't want to talk, that's okay. I perfectly understand. My parents died too. I was really upset and didn't want to talk with anyone either, but it wasn't good for me to keep that inside. I found it much easier when I spoke with people or just hung out with my friends. Do you want to go and hang out with your new friends? Wyatt and Chris?"

Peter was still sobbing with his blanket against his chest. He looked up at Paige with the reddest of eyes and nodded in agreement rapidly.

Paige hugged him and said, "Alright. I'll go arrange for us to do that."

**(X)**

In the apartment where Avo originally met the Possessor Demons, the three possessed Festers stood in front of him along with a new face. The fourth Possessor who escaped the sighting after being shot in his originally possessed body, now possessed a different person.

"Very good job," Avo complimented. "I have a spy who happened to be paying attention to the scene and he tells me there are no suspicions of magic coming from the witch. I will keep to my promise and deliver great notion to your name."

"What do you want us to do with the bodies?" The possessed Fredo asked.

"Keep them. I don't care," Avo admitted. "You performed your task. Take notice though that the police are searching for you, so there is a consequence in keeping those bodies."

"We'll take our chances. We need bodies to reside in, otherwise we suffocate," Fredo responded.

"The flaw of a Possessor Demon," the demonic Darklighter shot back. "If you don't have a body, the air suffocates you in your smoke form if you wander too long."

"Perhaps we should just possess you!" The fourth nameless Fester shouted.

"You don't have it in you to possess me," Avo informed, raising his hand and releasing a quickly formed thermal ball. The violet fireball crashed into the fourth Fester's body and destroyed the body. The thick black smoke quickly fled away searching for a new body. Avo waved at the three Festers and orbed away.

"I hope we still get our recognition," the possessed Jarod said.

**(X)**

Paige and Henry entered the manor with Henry carrying Peter. Paige closed the door behind them as Piper walked out from the kitchen.

"There you guys go," she said. "I've been worried." She stopped walking when she saw Peter. Her heart reached out for him as she remembered losing her mother to an untimely death and the abandonment of a father when she too was just a child. Piper turned to Paige, "How is he?"

Paige rubbed Peter's head, pushing his hair around gently, and said, "Looking forward to playing around with his new friends."

"Henry, the boys are upstairs in their room if you don't mind taking him up," Piper informed.

Henry nodded and walked to the stairs as Paige walked to her sister. Paige hugged Piper and didn't let go. "I still feel so powerless in not being able to help him. He's just a child and lost his parents to a gruesome murder. What do I do now, Piper?"

Piper rubbed her sister's back and said, "You do what you feel is right. What that may be, I have no clue, but just because you don't have your powers doesn't make you powerless. Being a Whitelighter is hardly just about your powers. Sure, they're required to tend to your charges but you don't change their lives through orbing, but through guidance to the right path. Do you remember what it means to be a Whitelighter now?"

Paige pushed herself back a little bit with a smile and told her sister, "You'll make a great Whitelighter one day."

The eldest chuckled and said, "As if I have it in me to take orders from the Elders." The two parted and Piper wrapped her arm around Paige's shoulders. "Did you bring anything to scry for Peter's relatives with? A second-cousin or so?"

"I have his blanket. That thing means the most to him now with his parents gone and if that can't make a connection, I don't know what can," Paige said. "There's just something really familiar to me about this boy, I just can't put my finger on it."

"Well, you happen to work at a school with tons of children," Piper reminded. "Maybe when you're scrying with a clear mind, it'll come back to you."

"Wouldn't it be hard to scry and try to think of a familiar reason with a clear mind? Seems pretty contradictory," Paige said.

The eldest smiled, "Go scry before I kick you."

**(X)**

In the attic, scrying, Paige was spinning the crystal over a map of the states, hoping to find a distant relative. The crystal had been spinning for nearly ten minutes and Paige's wrist was getting agitated with the constant rotating. Paige gave in to her pain, dropped the crystal and rubbed her tired wrist.

She exhaled a breath that was contained for a couple minutes due to hopeful scrying, but it felt good to finally release it. Paige was hoping for a sense of achievement, but to no avail. Peter was the only one left in his family line. Social services would be calling Paige's cell soon to find out where he was, wanting to add him to the database and Paige had to make a move. Despite being alone in the attic, she still felt as if she couldn't figure out how to best handle this situation.

Paige got to her feet and walked out of the attic. She went down the two flights to the bottom floor and saw Henry sitting at the dining room table with Leo. "Henry, we got to go somewhere."

"Where?" Henry asked.

"Somewhere I haven't visited in a while," Paige said. "We should bring Peter as well."

**(X)**

Peter was resting on Henry's shoulder, asleep for about ten minutes, when the two plus Paige entered the Church that Paige was brought to as an infant. A nun was speaking with a woman a few pews up and Paige led Henry into a pew of their own. They sat down and Peter continued to rest, undisturbed.

"So what are we doing here, Paige?" Henry asked. "I have to admit, I never really took you for the kind of Catholic that followed everything by the Bible."

"Oh, I'm not. I just believe in the big guy up in the clouds," Paige explained. "If you remember our wedding..." she eyed him, "And for your sake, you better, we had a woman conducting the ceremony. It's not exactly in the Catholic playbook to have a female priest. I just wanted to come here in hopes of guidance."

She looked up around and saw the various stained glass windows that each told a different story. In the very front of the Church was a large statue of Christ with a priest currently standing under it. Henry took a couple of glances around, never really being in a Church. He wasn't dedicated to any religion because he never saw fit to embrace any philosophies.

"Guidance with what, Paige?" Henry asked.

"Guidance for _him_," she answered, looking at Peter. "I'm starting to get this impression that we shouldn't just give him to social services. I feel like...we should look after him ourselves. Take him under our care."

Henry looked at her and didn't say anything for a while. They just stared at each other, but that was fine in this holy sanctuary. Words didn't always have to be exchanged for communication. "I'm actually seeing where you're coming from."

"Why wouldn't you? We were both adopted and you of all people know the troubles of being tossed around from house to house. I lucked out and I think we should do the same for him," Paige explained. "I don't want to learn in a few years that Peter is being tossed around from house to house for whatever reason."

Henry rubbed Peter's back and said, "I think Keith would want us too, but we should think about this a little more. It's been a tough day for us with Keith being killed and I don't want us to act on impulse."

"We're not really acting on impulse," Paige defended. "That's why we're here. My parents brought me here and placed me in the care of this very Church. They weren't thinking properly, but I wanted to see if I could channel what they were thinking, if that makes any sense. The situations are different, I realize that, but it all comes down to the life of a child. Whether you take in or give up a child, their life is going to change and it'll create an impact. We're going to be parents soon, Henry. I still have little doubts inside me of being a mother, but I want to make a positive impact on Peter's life."

"You say that as if being adopted is the worst thing in the world," Henry replied. "You had a great life."

"And you didn't. You still have a part of you that you haven't shared with me and I don't demand an answer from you. I'll wait, but I experienced a world that contrasted this one. I lived a life with my sisters and a happy family for one day and that feeling was fierce. Peter will never experience that and when he gets older, that feeling just might burn him," Paige said sympathetically. Her eyes began to tear and she said, "It's going to break my heart one day when he asks questions about his parents and starts to wonder what life could've been like if fate wasn't so cruel to him."

"Are you ready to answer those questions?" Henry asked. "I like to feel as if I have the strength to give a straight answer, but in the long run, I'm not sure."

"We know that Peter has had a rough start, Henry. This little boy doesn't deserve that and I know that we can take care of him. Other parents are going to beat him to death with all the reasons that life will still be fine without his parents. Not true! You may have said that you don't look back so much to your past, but growing up I acted out with not knowing about mine. He needs someone that can sympathize with him and I feel that we both have it in us to do that for him," tears were falling from the corners of Paige's eyes. "He needs to be able to mourn and not ignore the memory of his parents. He's so young and it's going to be hard enough to hold onto that memory as it is...I don't want some adoptive parents to be the reason he forgets them."

Henry's eyes were watery, but fought back his tears from rolling down his face. "You're right, Paige. He shouldn't forget the memory of his parents. Especially not the two people who risked their lives to create a better one for him."

"Their lives was an unfortunate, but ultimate sacrifice," Paige said. "I'm feeling ready to do this. What's your take on it?"

"Can we at least go home when we make this final decision? You wanted to come to Church to discuss this with a clear mind, but I think best when on the road," Henry explained, introducing Paige to a new detail of his life. She receptively nodded and the two stood up.

Paige on the car ride over remembered Evelyn's vision with Peter in it. She decided not to tell Henry at the chance of influencing him into making a decision that he wasn't ready for. She was just hoping he'd make the right one.

**(X)**

The Mitchells entered their house and Paige was now holding Peter in her arms. She was carrying him like she would a newborn child and just watched him sleep. Not taking her eyes off of him, she asked Henry, "So what's the verdict?"

Like Paige, Henry just looked at Peter. "I want to honor Keith by taking care of his son. Together, I know we can do right by Peter. I guess we can also consider this practice for when you give birth to our own child."

"I guess it'll be practice," Paige said. "But I'm sure that we'll grow to love Peter just like we would our own."

"He won't be different in my eyes," Henry promised, tears finally falling down his cheeks.

"I don't know what we're supposed to do with him," Paige said, still crying herself. Peter was peacefully sleeping in her arms, despite everything he had gone through today.

"We don't have too many options, do we, Paige?" Henry questioned. "Besides, we're sure now that we want to take him in and just have to run it by social services."

Paige nodded, "It's not going to be that simple. Social services might allow us to take care of him for now, but it won't be legal until about a year. It's going to be an annoying process where they check our home and make sure it's a clean environment and stuff like that. I've had to do it several times and you get to see how imposing you're forced to be with that job."

"We have nothing to hide," Henry said. "Except that you battle demons and have powers."

Paige slightly chuckled, "I've just realized something. I'll have to teach Peter about magic one day."

To continue the light mood, Henry said, "Let's just make sure it's at an age that is years before the sex talk."

Paige smiled. "Thank you for agreeing with me to do this, Henry. It really means a lot to me."

"I'll be honest in saying that I did it more for Peter and even Keith. You know your word means a lot to me, but I've been given the opportunity to bring some peace and normalcy to this boy's life. We'll raise him as a son of our own, but it'll be strange to see this boy turn into a young man that looks nothing like me," Henry shared.

"Don't give up all hope yet," Paige said. "We still got one of our own on the way. If it's a boy, he'll be just as handsome as his daddy."

"And if it's a girl, she'll be just as beautiful as..." Henry was interrupted with the yawning of the young boy in Paige's arms. His eyes slowly opened and just looked back and forth at the two people who were ready to take him into a new home. He just didn't know it yet.

**(X)**

Avo's personal Messenger orbed before him in the Underworld and said, "Congratulations on the assassination, Avo. Those Possessor Demons sure worked perfectly."

The demonic Darklighter nodded as he watched Rose meditating on the ground. "I've given them their credit too, despite one foolish member acting out. Were you able to find out if the deceased father was able to earn his Whitelighter wings?"

"I don't know," Reynold answered. "I can't just raise the topic to my attention since I'm not even supposed to know at this moment."

"Proper answer. I don't want your alliance with me to be discovered. I doubt you would want that to happen as well. I can only imagine what the Elders would do once they discover they have a Whitelighter infiltrating the Heavens," Avo said. "I'm so tempted to have you orb me in there so I can annihilate them all where they stand, but I'm going to play it wise. Sadly, I believe that the Elders have the power to defeat me."

"I don't think they are even concerned about you. Paige has told them that she lost Rose to your influence, but they didn't really tell her any method to vanquish you," Reynold explained.

"Strange. The Elders actually know me in ways they must be ashamed to tell Paige," he replied. "This battle will get them involved and their blood will spill. I'll be back to power soon enough and in a few months, Rose will have enough willpower to take in the profound abilities of Valen."

"Months?"

"Was I not clear? Valen is an ancient demon and she can crush Rose if she's not ready. Awakening her power will be a task alone, but we need a powerful woman for Valen to go into. If successful, we'll have a powerful ally that might require Paige to call her sisters to help her out. It's going to be a bloodbath."

**(X)**

Paige and Henry stood outside their bedroom door with the knowledge of Peter sitting on their bed. The two looked at each other and Henry finally said, "We can't just leave him in there. He's confused enough already."

"I know, I know. It's just weird that we're about to walk in there and tell this kid that we're going to be his new parents," Paige said. "I want to be careful with my wording."

Henry turned the knob and told his wife, "We'll be fine. Let's just change the pace of news for this kid." He walked in and Paige followed. Peter was crying a little and Henry said, "Hey, buddy. You doing okay?"

Peter nodded and said, "Yeah." He was being sincere, but was truly hurt.

"Paige and I here have some news for you. Would it be cool if we told you it right now or should we come back later?" Henry asked.

The child nodded again, informing Henry it was okay to share the news.

Henry walked over to Peter and sat down besides him on the bed. He wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulders and said, "We're really sorry that you lost your parents. It must be really hard for you, but we wanted to know how you would feel about Paige and I letting you live with us. It's a safe home and we would like to take care of you. How do you feel about that, buddy?"

Peter looked from Henry to Paige. They were the only other people that he knew and he was aware of how much they were trying to help his father find a safe home. He remembered his father describing Henry as "the good cop" and he personally thought Paige was a really pretty lady. He began to think this might be good for him, "I like that."

Those three words reached out to both Paige and Henry. To Paige, it felt like she had just given birth to Peter and was on the track to loving him.

Henry kissed Peter on the forehead and brushed his hair around. "We're glad to hear that." The elder mortal stood up and told Paige, "I'm going to go and get him some milk."

"I don't likes milk," Peter said. "Can I haves some owange juice?"

Henry smiled, learning a new thing about his new _son_. "Of course, buddy." He then left.

Paige walked over to Peter and held her arms out to him. He stood on the bed and climbed into Paige's arms, "It's okay, Peter. We'll take care of you." She smiled at him. "It might take a while, but we're going to give you a good life with our best efforts. I want you to understand that we're not trying to replace your parents. They were both wonderful people, but we just wanted to take care of you for their honor and for your safety."

"Do I has to call yous my 'Mom' and 'Dad'?" Peter fairly asked.

"Of course not," Paige replied. "If you want, you can make up little nicknames for us and we'll happily go by them."

Peter rested his head on her shoulder, pondering on a name to call her. He wasn't sure of the moment, but was going to think on it. It was a happy distraction to think of. He closed his eyes and a tear managed to squeeze through and landed on Paige's shoulder for a second time.

Different from the first time, Paige began to feel something rising within her. It felt as if something that was deeply buried within her rose to her heart and mind. Her vision changed to that of when she orbed; blue and white lights that would cloud her sight. She didn't feel herself move, but she felt healed. Her powers had finally returned to her with this great act of consideration of Peter. A little mortal boy helped make her the magical Witchlighter she once was.

**End of Chapter**

**A/note: **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Leave some great reviews for me, please. Lol. At least Paige finally got her you-know what back. And btw, if my spells were bad (Lol) it was because I suck at spell writing and I was trying to channel how Paige is often quick with chanting a spell. Criticize away though. I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 14 is already written and I'll tell you it's a Thanksgiving Chapter followed by Chapter 15, a Christmas chapter. Im just warning you about these jumps in the month, but as usual, you will have the dates to keep you in track.


	14. Patty's Protection

**A/Note: **Hey, all. Well, here's the next chapter. It's a Thanksgiving Chapter mainly, but has a different beginning. Btw, do not laugh at the names that Peter gives Paige and Henry. They are rather lame, **especially** the one given for Henry. I used my little cousin for help and this was the result. Please do review.

**Chapter 14- **Patty's Protection

_**November 22nd, 2006**_

Two days following the death of Peter's father, the funeral took place. Paige and Henry were able to work alongside Social Services to make sure that Peter would be allowed to live under their care and they were moving closer to getting that as finalized as it could. But those matters didn't matter today, for they were present to bury a young man who died trying to create a better life with vast opportunities for his son. In trying to create that life for Peter, Keith lost his own.

Peter Moore wasn't even acknowledging his future foster parents, who were standing by his side, but just stared at the black casket with gold borders that would've glistened under the sun if it hadn't been for the dark grey clouds concealing it. The rain showered down and the autumn winds would blow it into Peter's face, but he remained immobile and ignored the sprinkles. It didn't bother him. He wasn't going to be alone in this world, but there would eventually come a time where Paige and Henry might not be enough to substitute his mother and father.

_What if I lose them too?_ Peter thought, more tears welling up in his eyes, mixing with the moisture of rain on his face. He wasn't even aware of the real dangers that await his new family in the world... this probably wasn't the knowledge that a soon-to-be one year old needed.

_**November 25th, 2006**_

The kitchen at Halliwell manor was busy. It was the same thing every year with the one difference of Paige following Piper's every move with a notepad in her hand, recording her sister's techniques. Piper moved over to the kitchen sink with an orange apron hanging from her neck with a turkey patch on it. Piper turned on the hot water, washed a spoon and turned to Paige, "Are you going to record down my spoon washing method?"

Paige chuckled, "Must you mock me? You should be honored that I came to you to learn how to cook a _fabulous_ feast. I finally have my own house and it'd be nice if I could play hostess next time. At this time next year, I'll have two kids running around."

Piper smiled at her sister as she turned off the water and moved over to the oven. "So when are you guys going to open the envelope telling us if you got a boy or girl?"

"I think after we all sing 'Happy Birthday' for Peter," Paige guessed. "Speaking of... how's that cake coming along?" She shot her sister an innocent smile.

"What is so hard about making a cake, Paige? You pour the batter into a tray, stuff it into the oven and babysit it," Piper explained. "And for your information, the cake is fine. It needs another ten minutes or so and then I'll add the strawberries to the top."

"Great, thank you. My problem with the cake is that I don't think I leave it in long enough and when I do, it burns. So what do you prefer; flat cake or burnt cake?" Paige rhetorically asked, moving her way around the island to see what Piper was doing.

The irritable eldest sister glared at Paige and said, "How about this instead? I will personally write down the notes, step by step, for you. It'll also come with my free services next year with Thanksgiving at your house," Piper offered. "Is it a deal? All you have to do is get out the kitchen."

"Whoa, feisty!" Paige put down the notepad and surrendered. "Apparently your natural attitude added with the blend of a three hundred degree temperature kitchen just makes you _extra_ feisty. I'm going to go and step out of here, but I will hold onto that coupon for next year."

The youngest left the kitchen and was immediately welcomed by the soft breeze in the air. To further allow the enjoyment, she opened two more buttons down the middle of her white blouse. She placed her hands on her waist as she saw Peter tottering after Wyatt and Chris through the foyer.

Wyatt separated from his brother and hid behind a wall. Peter chased after him and Wyatt orbed out of his spot, just in time before Peter could catch him. Peter looked around, puzzled and looked up at Paige. "Has yous seen Wyatt, Paigey?" Peter had selected a name for Paige at his first morning at the Mitchell-Matthews Manor and Paige approved, despite her dislike for the name when her friends in high school would call her that. It didn't fit the image she had set for herself.

Paige shrugged her shoulders and lied, "I have no idea, honey. Go look for Chris if you're having trouble with Wyatt..." she crouched down, "I think Chris likes hiding behind the couch." She winked at him and smiled.

Peter laughed and shouted, "Thanks!" He turned on his heel and ran towards the living room.

Paige looked around and whispered, "Wyatt." Her nephew orbed before her and he made sure Peter wasn't behind him. "Wyatt, don't forget that Peter doesn't know about magic, so try and play fair with him, okay?"

The blond boy nodded and ran down the foyer. His father came down the steps and said, "And you had doubts with being a mother?"

"That wasn't mothering, that was... _aunting_," she rose back to full height and stuck her hands into the pockets of her brown maternity dress pants. "I'm assuming that Henry left to pick up Phoebe, right?"

Leo nodded, adjusting the collar on his new green polo shirt. He decided to switch up his style now and felt comfortable with his decision. Piper was very ecstatic to deliver the majority of his polos to charity. The mortal answered, "Yeah, Phoebe's car is still in the shop and we're avoiding as much magic as possible for your new son. You know we can't keep the magic in the closet for long."

The newly reformed Witchlighter nodded, "I know, I know. I just want to be careful with this. It wouldn't be very fair for me to educate him on how _super cool_ magic is and not tell him about the demons. My other problem is that he's going to want to orb and move things with his mind after he sees me do it."

The mortal shrugged, "That is tough. You just have to tell him that with your great power comes..."

"Great responsibility?" Paige interrupted. "Please tell me that you weren't about to cop one of Spider-Man's most popular lines."

Leo laughed, "I was actually going to say 'duty' to avoid that, but I'll admit that the line was inspired by the movie. Wyatt has been watching it all week, but my point is that he's going to have to understand that your powers aren't for gaining the advantage in games of tag, but to helping those in need. He's a prime example."

"I didn't use my powers to help him," she replied. "Lame alert, but I just went by my heart. I knew it was the right thing and I have no regrets. I'm happy to see him happy."

Wyatt, Peter, and Chris ran into the foyer and stopped in front of Paige and Leo, breathing hard.

"It looks like they are in need of some tall glasses of refreshments," Leo said. "I'll go and get some apple juice."

"Be careful. Piper's not in the best of moods," Paige warned.

"I think I can escape the wrath of my wife after all of these years," Leo said, walking into the kitchen.

Paige shushed the three boys and said, "Wait for it."

The four waited in silence and heard glass shatter followed with Piper shouting, "Damn it, Leo! Go and hire a bodyguard to watch that _damn_ door for me! The next person that comes in here is going to get it! Understand?!"

Paige regretted advising the boys to listen in and told them, "You guys all know not to say that bad word, right?" The trio nodded in unison. "Why don't you three just head on into the living room and watch some television? We'll bring you your juice there."

The three best friends walked into the living room and left Paige standing alone in the foyer until the door opened. Henry walked in holding two sodas under his arms and grinned at his wife. Behind him was Phoebe in a silk top that matched her blue jeans.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Phoebe shouted with extended arms. "I haven't seen you in weeks, sis." Paige walked over to her elder sister and embraced her. They released and Phoebe continued, "So where is he? And don't ask me 'Who?' because you know _who_ I'm talking about."

The Witchlighter laughed at her sister's excitement. Phoebe had been supportive of all of Paige's decisions and this was their first time meeting since she took Paige shopping for maternity clothes. "_Peter_ is in the living room watching cartoons or something with the boys. He's a bit tired right now, so let him breathe for a minute."

"Why is he tired?" The foster father asked, walking to the dining room table and setting down the sodas.

"There wasn't a demon attack or anything was there?" Phoebe asked, concerned. "Because you know me, I will beat a demon over the head with Piper's turkey."

The Witchlighter laughed, "I appreciate the everlasting offer, but we have powers to fight the demons... we don't use the power of poultry."

Phoebe quickly frowned before resuming her smile, "_You_ have powers to fight off demons. I'm still working with one power here." She then slapped her own forehead and said, "Ignore me. I'm ecstatic that you have your powers back, but I just miss fighting along my sisters in our Charmed line up. As a substitute though, I will be vanquishing my fiance if he's not here by the time we're all seated."

Paige crossed her arms and asked, "Where is Cupid?"

Phoebe peeked into the living room and only saw the back of Peter's head. She turned back to Paige and said, "Do I really have to answer that? He's running around playing with his ring. Before he comes though, he knows to pick up the gift I got for Peter. It was too big for the car so he's just going to teleport it over." She looked back at Peter, "Is he hydrated yet?"

"Did I happen to miss three flying glasses of juice while you were talking?"

"No," Phoebe answered, knowing where her sister was going with this.

"Then I guess not," Paige replied. "Look, just count to one hundred."

"Paige, I just want to see my new nephew. Is that really such a huge hassle?" Phoebe questioned. Paige didn't say anything and Phoebe said, "How about fifty seconds?"

"Deal," Paige said, accepting the bargain with a laugh. "How are the wedding plans going?"

Phoebe waved a disregarding hand to Paige, "There'll be time to discuss wedding business later." She then looked at Paige, "I can't wait any longer." She rushed into the living room and Paige chased her down to the best of her ability.

The middle sister stood in front of the television and took a good look at Peter. The three boys stared at her, quizzically, but her lips curled upwards and revealed a beaming smile. She put her hands to her mouth and dropped them seconds later, excited, "Aren't you just a handsome little man?"

Peter stared at her, still confused. He kneeled up on the couch and turned back to Paige, "Paigey, who dis?"

Paige walked over and placed a hand on her foster son'sshoulder, "This is your very loving aunt Phoebe. She's going to spoil you as much as she spoils Wyatt and Chris."

The one year old turned back at Phoebe and gladly accepted the smiling woman in front of him as family at the mention of being spoiled. "Hi!" He jumped down from the couch and hugged Phoebe's legs.

Phoebe bent over and hugged him back. She looked up at Paige, "I appreciate the love, but I feel like you sold him to me."

The Witchlighter smiled, "He's being brought into a new family and you can afford to spoil him." She saw Wyatt and Chris trying to watch T.V and Paige said, "Pheebs, your two nephews are trying to watch some Fairly OddParents. Mind getting out of the way?"

Realizing, Phoebe walked out of the way with Peter still holding onto her. She found it adorable and just smiled at him. "He's going to fit right in." Peter finally let go of her and plopped back onto the couch in-between his best friends. Phoebe walked over to her sister and the two headed towards the dining room, "So how's he doing at home? He seems pretty happy."

The two pulled out seats at the table and sat down as Leo walked by with a tray. On the tray were three cartons of juice with three plates of sliced fruit. Leo smiled at Phoebe, greeting her and Phoebe waved back at him before returning to Paige.

"He cried this morning. Naturally, he wanted his parents to be there for his first birthday and I was so close from summoning them from the dead to do it, but how would I explain that to him?" Paige asked. "He's actually woken up in the middle of the night because of nightmares. He was there when all those bullets were going off and knew that his father was dead by the end of it. He's a child so his imagination must be going crazy without him actually witnessing what happened."

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to make it that day," Phoebe said. "I just had my phone off so I could concentrate on my column and I will _never _turn my phone off again."

"Don't feel bad. Really. This wasn't something that was expected. It was something we knew was a possibility, but we always come out of a crisis," Paige reflected. "We shouldn't have assumed that all was good before getting out of the city." She noticed Phoebe still wasn't comfortable with the answer and lightened the mood with, "Besides, if you don't turn your phone off when at the movies, that's eleven dollars down the drain."

Phoebe grinned slightly and said, "I'm just glad that everything went well with social services. It sounds as if it was simple."

She nodded and tapped her index finger against the table, "It sure was. My experience as a social worker and inspection of a nice clean home was all it took. They were also willing to trust us since Henry was charged with the responsibility of taking care of Keith, why not his son as well?" She grinned. "Oh! I can't go without giving credit to the hours of paperwork. That pesky paperwork sure had Henry and I busy. Peter still can't legally take our name for about a year, but we're happy that he's at least living with us." She then pressed her hands against her still growing stomach and said, "And I cannot wait to see if we're getting a boy or girl."

Phoebe clapped with glee, "Me either! I'm so happy that my little sister is going to be a mother."

Paige stopped tapping her finger on the table and quickly pointed at Phoebe, "And what about you? Can we expect a little cupid from you?"

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea. I feel like I should take it slow, but I also feel like I should at least get the nine months rolling on already. I also have to wait and see how Coop feels about children. We've talked about it and he's just at a different place than me right now. He wants to focus on me and him before we add a baby to the mix." She nodded, "In due time though. I'm sure that after all that fighting, I'll get my little girl and if I don't, I am going to sue the cosmos for false advertising."

"Cake is almost done!" Piper shouted from the kitchen. "Can someone come here and start setting the table?"

Henry came down the steps and had finished getting into his dress clothes. The mortal was comfortable in his fitting blue jeans and was wearing a green collar shirt that was open, showing his clean white undershirt. "I guess we better help out with that."

"You got it, mister," Paige replied, getting to her feet. She stopped Henry in his tracks and said, "I got this." She held out her arms before her and voiced her command, "Dinner settings!"

Various clouds of orbs spread across the table. It was a show for the eyes and a demonstration of Paige's control over her power with the way she orchestrated all the silverware, glasses and plates to their designed positions. Upon receiving her power back, Paige learned that it hadn't fully recovered and she had to command what she wanted again, but was content enough to have her power returned to her. The orbs cleared and the various sparkles of white and blue lights ascended into the air and vanished, leaving the table set.

The Witchlighter folded her arms and boasted, "It feels good to be back in power."

**(X)**

Everyone, including a now present Coop, stood around the table with Peter sitting at the head in front of a strawberry cake with Peter's name in a coconut icing.

Piper counted, "Alright, three... two... one."

Everyone sang, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, dear _Peter_... Happy Birthday to you!" They all clapped for the smiling child.

Peter stared at the blue wax candle that was shaped like the number one. The small flame on the flicker was calling out to Peter, waiting to be blown away and the birthday boy closed his eyes.

"Make a wish," Paige instructed. She knew he was aware of the process, but wanted to enjoy the feeling of that new mother instruction.

Peter closed his eyes and thought about his wish._ I wish my Mommy and Daddy are okay. _He then blew the candle out. The flame dissipated and a stream of smoke danced off of the wicker. Within seconds, it ultimately vanished.

The family clapped once again and even Peter clapped for himself.

Piper looked at her watch and said, "Turkey should be done in another fifteen minutes if you guys want to go open presents now." She turned on her heel and proceeded back into the kitchen.

"I'll cut up the cake," Phoebe said. She moved over to the cake as the men and boys moved into the conservatory.

Paige went to her sister and said, "Be sure to cut up slivers. Piper's going to blow you up if the boys are too full for her turkey." Phoebe laughed and shook her head, knowingly. "Pheebs, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, honey. Anything," Phoebe replied, cutting into the cake with the knife in her possession.

"Do you feel that Mom made a huge mistake with giving me up?" Paige questioned.

Phoebe stopped cutting and eyed her sister, "Paige, where is this coming from?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Paige answered, nodding towards Peter's direction.

"Well, yeah, but Mom had her reasons. It was to guarantee your safety and to ensure that we'd be able to take care of the world. You're doing a great thing for Peter, but you asking this question makes me feel like you did this to feel better about yourself," Phoebe admitted.

"What? No!" Paige replied, offended. "I did it so that Peter would have parents that would promise to be able to help him, no matter what. I honestly did it for him, its just that I've had time to think about my decision and it lead me to thinking about what our mother and my father did for me."

Phoebe put down the knife and wrapped her arm around Paige's shoulders, "Look, I didn't mean to offend you. It just sounded _off_. How about we just go and watch your _son_ open some presents?" Paige nodded, defeated for the moment, and the two walked into the conservatory.

The sisters walked into the conservatory and saw that Peter had no control. Gift wrapping was scattered amongst the floor and Phoebe's gift of a small tricycle was fresh in its box. Piper and Leo's gift of clothes and a race car were next to the three-wheeled bike and Peter was currently opening Paige and Henry's gift.

Like the other presents, Peter savagely tore apart the colorful paper that concealed his gift. His smile grew as he saw the present he had wanted the most; an electronic portable game. Henry purchased the Gameboy and Paige bought games for him; two were fun and the other was educational. She knew he'd be happy with just playing a game as she had cast a spell to discover what he wanted. She ignored personal gain in order to give this boy happiness and although he was young, this is what he wanted most.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Peter repeated several times, bouncing with glee.

Henry kneeled down and hugged him, "No problem, buddy. _Paigey_ and I will be letting you play it an hour a day." They both knew they had to set some restrictions while he was young to avoid obsessive playing when he's older.

"A Gameboy, Paige?" Phoebe asked. "Are you guy to buy him a cellphone when he's five?"

Paige rolled her eyes, "My maternal and _magical_ instincts told me that he wanted this. With proper monitoring, he'll be fine. Besides, games require concentration so its not all about fun."

Phoebe held up her arms in a surrendering fashion, "Alright, you win." She then lowered her voice, "So you used magic?"

Paige nodded, guilty, "Well, yeah. I haven't known him long enough and I wanted to make his first birthday a good one. Next year, I'll be able to figure it out on my own." She folded her arms and said, "I'll be back, I have to go ask Piper something."

Phoebe glared. "Would it happen to be the question that _questioned_ whether or not Mom was a bad parent because of what she did?"

"I never said she was a bad parent. I just think her decision was a bit... sucky," Paige got out, remaining silent after her last word.

"Sucky?" Phoebe repeated. "Is that the best you got? Of all the words in the dictionary, you select something outside Webster's vocabulary?"

Paige began to walk off and pursed her lips, "It's not the point, Phoebe." Her sister followed as Paige walked towards the kitchen and continued, "I just think that I should confront Mom on this. It's something that I've left on the back-burner for too long and I need to get it out into the open."

They entered the kitchen and Phoebe immediately said, "You told me. It's out in the open. Leave it be."

Paige stopped proceeding further and turned around to face Phoebe, "Why are you so against me doing this? You should be supporting me, not holding me back."

Piper stopped pouring vegetables around the turkey on the island and asked, "What the heck are you two bickering about?"

The psychic witch jumped to answer, "Paige wants to summon Mom to ask her why she gave her up." They saw Piper's jaw dropped and Phoebe continued, "It's not reasonable."

"And not to mention that we aren't going to be calling the dead before we have turkey!" Piper replied. "You guys are lucky that I agreed to the cake before dinner, but now you want to add another seat?"

"I'm not inviting her to eat. I'm summoning her so she can shed a little light on why I didn't grow up with you guys," Paige defended. Her sisters still had no clue about her stumble into Providere Universitas, so they had no idea why this was such an issue for her. "Piper, would you mind if I summoned Mom after dinner?"

Piper breathed, "No, I wouldn't."

"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Normally, I wouldn't mind for Paige to do this, but not on Thanksgiving and not on her son's birthday. Peter is being pushed in the background and we should just be suffocating him with company, so to speak."

"Phoebe, that makes it sound like you think I adopted him, but am not caring for him," Paige addressed. "That would make this the second time you've questioned my parenting in the last five minutes."

Phoebe rubbed her forehead and said, "Not at all. I'm glad you adopted Peter, you're doing a great thing. I'm just wondering why this can't wait until tomorrow."

"It may be Peter's birthday, but it was Thanksgiving first. A day for family and I just want to know why I didn't spend over twenty of these with you guys," the Witchlighter said. "Sorry for wanting to question our mother on the subject." She sped past Phoebe in a rushed exit and left the two sisters stunned.

"I wonder why she's taking this so strongly," Piper questioned. "I thought this issue was buried six feet under." She resumed adding the vegetables and focused her attention there.

"The logical explanation would be Peter's presence in her life. She became a mother overnight and she's been forced to change some things in her life. She wasn't expecting to have to mother anyone until next year and I'm assuming with whatever free time she's had, has been directed to re-evaluation of herself," Phoebe speculated.

"Hey, Ask Phoebe?" Piper said, catching her sister's confused look. "If you _knew_ all of that, why is it that you just ran our sister out of the kitchen?"

"I wasn't processing this as quickly," Phoebe defended. "I don't even have advice on what my next move should be now though." She walked out the kitchen, thinking.

**(X)**

The family were already in the process of eating Piper's delicious meal. As opposed to usual, the kids joined the adults at the table with Peter sitting in-between his foster parents. Paige was helping him cut his turkey, while he continued to pick at his broccoli.

"I commend your kid on eating vegetables, Paige," Piper said. "Wyatt and Chris are just not fans."

"It is gwoss," Chris said for himself, staring at the untouched vegetables on his plate. He turned to his mother who was giving him a look at the insult and almost ate it out of intimidation.

"Paige, can you pass the gravy?" Phoebe asked.

"Why? I thought you liked leaving things alone with the way they are," Paige snapped. "If that applies to your sister, I think it should apply to you dry turkey."

Both Phoebe and Piper were offended at this remark, but for different reasons. Henry turned to his wife and said, "Paige, do you really have to do this right now?"

The Witchlighter was ashamed at herself. She had just overreacted and apologized, "I'm sorry. Especially to you, Piper, this is very good turkey."

"I understand, Paige. Let's just try and tone it down a bit," Piper replied, lifting a fork to her mouth with stuffing on it and eating it.

"I just didn't appreciate what we discussed earlier," Paige defended herself.

"That's fine, Paige, but let's just have a nice and _happy_," he turned to Peter and back at his wife, "dinner. All other affairs can wait." Henry hoped that his words reached out to her.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Paige apologized once more. "So... should we go around the table and say what we're grateful for? There's no point waiting until the end of dinner." The Halliwell tradition was to share what everyone was grateful for on this day before starting dessert, a time where everyone was most relaxed. People were generally too anxious to eat prior to the meal to allow any time to pass around their blessings.

Piper stood up and clasped her hands together, "Good idea. I'll go first. I'm grateful for a normal dinner. No interruptions. No uninvited _guests_ and just all of us together. I'd rather have us arguing with each other than having to run off to fight some _people._" She smiled and everyone in the room, obviously excluding Peter, understood her code of speaking. "This is something that I always envisioned with a normal life and I'm happy to have survived everything we survived to be able to experience it." The eldest smiled and sat down.

Phoebe stood up next and said, "I, too, am happy that we're able to have this joyous dinner without interruption. We have a couple additions to Thanksgiving this year and I feel as if our family is almost complete, although we're aware that it's still growing. Cheers to us for being victorious and gaining an opportunity to finally be able to live our lives." She sat down and kissed Coop who was right beside her, happy to have someone to be with on this day.

Henry stood up after seeing that no one else was and smiled at Paige, "Well, Thanksgiving has always been a funny time for me. Although I keep connections with my old family, it's always been a time that I would generally spend in my apartment with some takeout. I don't know, I think I'm just glad to be able to spend it with all you guys as you are all my new family. So yeah, many more, I guess." The mortal sat down, slightly blushing and Paige kissed him for taking the initiative to say something.

Paige looked around to see if Coop or Leo wanted to say anything, but they all stared at her. Leo generally had something to say every year, but it looked as if he was going to sit this one out as all had been said. The Witchlighter didn't mind and rose from her seat, "I'm really grateful for the additions to our family. It's nice to have a husband to sit beside and a son to look after and it has helped make us feel a little more complete. We still have one on the way, but I feel blessed that Peter is able to have a safe dinner on his special day. It's unfortunate what happened with Peter's parents, but I'm thankful to have such a wonderful boy in my life now."

The half-witch sat back down and kissed her foster son on the cheek.

Coop cleared his throat and asked Paige and Henry, "So, you guys ready to tell us the sex of the baby? Or better yet, find out for yourselves?" Coop wasn't sure about the sex of the baby, but already had some knowledge of his own.

Paige turned to Henry and asked, "What do you think? You ready?"

He took a quick breath and nodded. "Sure. Your sisters are here, my friends are here and Billie wouldn't want you to hold off because of her."

Paige nodded, agreeing. She was still really concerned about Billie, but knew she'd be able to take care of herself. She just hoped that she was getting closer and closer to success. The Witchlighter reached into her purse pocket and pulled out a tan envelope. "Ready, _Daddy_?"

The receptive mortal smiled and said, "You're carrying the baby, you open it."

"Really?" Paige smiled and Henry nodded once more. She unsealed the envelope and pulled out the photo, sharing it in sight of Henry. Peter was in between, but had no idea what he was looking at. Paige and Henry were quite confused themselves. The picture was in black and gray and there was no labeling below the image indicating whether it was a male or female. They tried searching for indication on the child being a boy, but couldn't find anything. Instead, they just saw two gray circles that were close to each other.

"So is it a boy or girl?" Henry asked. "I'm hoping it's a girl now or this kid's pen-"

"I think it's a girl," Paige interrupted, casting her husband a look that spoke of why she interrupted. She eyed it closer and said, "I think we'd be able to identify _it_, but it's safe to say it's a girl."

"_Girls,"_ Coop coughed out. Everyone looked at him, confused and he said, "I sensed a total of three heartbeats with Paige and that can only mean..."

"Twins?!" Paige exclaimed. She dropped the envelope and put her hands to her mouth, just as shocked as everyone else. Her and Henry stood up and embraced each other. He picked Paige up and spun her around once and placed her back down. She placed her hands on his cheeks, leaned up and gave him a quick, but passionate kiss.

The family members around the table were clapping and the happy soon-to-be parents of twins broke their kiss and just gazed at each other.

**(X)**

Paige walked into the attic with her sisters behind her. The Whitelighter sister was still ecstatic about the news of twins, but was also concerned that the expenses were now going to be over the top. By next year, she would have a total of three children under her and Henry's care with a house they were still paying for monthly. If Paige was going to make this work, it was likely she was going to have to quit her teaching position at Magic School and get an actual job. Even after she received her powers back, Paige still hadn't officially resigned from her position as she loved working with the teenagers, but it would have to be soon that she taught her last class.

That was business for another time though. The Witchlighter held out her hand and was about to make a command when Phoebe interrupted her.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Phoebe asked, promising herself that this would be the last time.

"Candles... circle!" Paige ignored her question and managed to get her command out. Five candles orbed out of a shut box and gathered around in an equidistant circle. "Phoebe, it's not like Mom is going to say she didn't love me or something. I'm not expecting some tearjerker moment, I just want to get this all out. I've never confronted Mom about this and I've only gotten this story from the mouths of others."

Phoebe was about to speak again and Piper said, "Leave it be. She has every right to do this. We have no experience in this and have no reason to step in her way."

"Look, I'm not trying to hold any grudges, but can I please just have this time alone with Mom? I would really appreciate that," Paige requested.

The middle sister surrendered and just stood by the eldest. The two elder sisters looked at each other and nodded. "Good luck," Piper wished, as her and Phoebe stepped out of the attic and closed the door behind them.

Paige got the silence she wanted and chanted the spell to summon the dead.

_Hear these words, Hear my cries,_

_Spirit from the Other Side,_

_Come to me, I summon thee,_

_Cross now the Great Divide._

An immediate swirl of white lights spun around inside the circle of the dead and called upon the spirit of Patty Halliwell. The response obviously reached out to her and a final golden glow washed over the spiraling spheres, forming the spirit of Patty. The Charmed mother looked around the attic and saw her youngest daughter. "Hello, Paige. Happy Thanksgiving," she greeted.

The deceased transparent witch was in a simple dress that matched the tone of fresh ice and her auburn hair was behind her shoulders, as opposed to usual. A teal silk wrap hugged her shoulders and Patty's smile remained on her face as she waited for a response.

"Hi, Mom," Paige replied, maintaining respect.

"How are you?" Patty asked.

"I'm... in need of an answer. Before I go into that, you know about the recent change in my life, don't you?" Paige asked. She knew there were times that the ancestors weren't watching every second and Paige first recognized this when Grams didn't know that Wyatt wasn't a girl until a time for the Wiccaning came.

"I do," Patty answered, remaining in her spiritual circle. "I was watching every step of the way. You're truly courageous to do such a thing. I think my heart would've wanted me to, but in the end, I don't think my courage within would've allowed me to make that actual step."

"That's kinda what I want to talk to you about. We've never actually had this talk about you giving me up. The night I met you, we just hugged before the Elders just pulled you away from me. We never really had an opportunity to speak about your giving me up. After you went back to the heavens, I just spent the night chatting with Piper and Phoebe about you," Paige explained. "In the end, they were just defending you and I bought the pitch that the Spokespeople of Patty Halliwell were selling me."

Patty remained silent, intent on listening before speaking. She knew Paige still had a lot to get out of her system.

"We've just never discussed this ourselves. I've never given myself the opportunity to be mad at you, to yell at you, but yet I've always appreciated you. It's strange, but I appreciate you for giving me up, but after entering that world... not so much," Paige admitted. "I still love the parents that were there for me, but after experiencing life with the sisters that I love more than my parents -both sets- I feel that I was gypped of a better life." The Witchlighter brushed her red hair back and took a deep breath, staring at her mother and searching for her next words.

She placed her hands on her stomach and found herself asking the question she wanted to ask, "How were you able to give up your daughter? Why wouldn't you risk punishment as opposed to tossing me away to protect yourself?" The Witchlighter pushed her hands on her stomach further and said, "I can't even think about giving up my _children_. How could you separate me from my sisters?"

It was finally her mother's turn to speak. The deceased witch's eyes were watery and she said, "Paige... we weren't thinking as clear as you would've. We just... we made our move out of fear. Sam and I knew that we were pushing it already with being together, but then to have a child? Why, it was unspeakable. We would've died for sure and what upsets me is that you're not seeing the bigger picture."

"What would that be?" Paige questioned. "To protect me?"

Patty nodded, "Of course, but you're not understanding where I'm going with this. Sam and I knew that we were risking death. The punishment that the Elders dole out is unspeakable and in some ways, Sam and I were ready to just keep orbing you away from your family to bring you home. We were willing to go against their wrath."

"So what was it?"

Patty thought twice before answering, but realized that Paige wanted answers and answers she would give her. "We weren't ready to put _you_ under the danger of their wrath." She saw the surprised face on Paige and explained further, "Let's face it, Paige, the Elders would've discovered you and knew they could've gotten away with doing whatever they wanted to you since we hadn't really exposed you to the world. Your sisters didn't even know you existed until it was time to become a Charmed One. They could've hurt you... killed you ... or even destroyed your soul as they thought that this new breed would have tainted spirits that weren't worthy of being recycled. These weren't dangers that I was prepared to put for you!"

The pale Witchlighter was taken back and stunned. This was reasonable.

"It's horrible enough that I had to give up my daughter, but then to be responsible for her death as well? I'm sorry that you had to be separated from your sisters, I would've wanted that life for you as well, but in the end I made a choice that I knew would keep you alive," Patty informed. "The Elders have changed over the years and for the better as of lately, but the Elders from decades ago would've wiped the memory of your foster parents, took you from their lives, and did whatever they felt was right."

Paige felt better, but scared at the same time. The Elders didn't seem like the paragons of Good they're supposed to be back in her mother's time. Elders didn't exactly vanish all at once, so the fear came to Paige knowing that some of them were still up there.

"I'm so sorry, Mom-"

"No," Patty interrupted. "Don't be. You had every reason to question my actions. I was being a mother that wanted to protect her daughter, but I myself, never took the initiative to actually sit you down for this talk. I'll admit that once again, it feared me to have this conversation. I've been anticipating it some more lately after knowing about your journey to the alternate world. You've been on a quest to discover who you are since a young age, I'm sure. With the knowledge that you are from another family, questions naturally follow, and you're still searching for the answers. Confront whoever you have to get them, don't be scared like me and just take charge."

"I will, Mom," Paige replied, tearing in the eyes. She opened her arms, inviting her mother to step through and watched as she did so. A glow washed over Patty and solidified her spirit, allowing her to walk in the world of the living. The two embraced and Paige just rested her head on her shoulder, crying. "I just wanted to have these moments growing up."

Patty gently brushed her hair and replied, "I know, baby. I wanted to be able to hold my daughters just as much as you wanted to hold your mother." They hugged for a little while longer before Patty pushed her back and slid her palm down Paige's cheek. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to meet your son and have a long overdue welcome to your husband."

Paige chuckled and said, "Of course." She walked over to the attic door and opened it. She shouted, "Henry! Can you come up here with Peter?!"

After a few moments of silence, Henry's voice responded from the bottom floor, "Be there in a minute!" 

Paige turned back to her mother and reminded, "Now, don't make any mention of your being a ghost. Peter's not exactly a son by blood."

"I'm aware," Patty replied. "That's why I wanted to introduce myself to him now while I'm here since we dead spirits won't be coming down for a Wiccaning."

Paige grew dissapointed, "I had a feeling we wouldn't be able to hold one. It kinda sucks that we can't call the family to welcome him."

"What you're doing for him is fine and the family will be watching over you and him. He's just not magical and can't have the ceremony, but you have what it takes to protect him and you just have to make sure that he grows up to be a good kid... no drugs, no gangs-"

"Considering a gang killed his parents and I'll have to tell him that story when he gets older, I have a huge feeling that he'll be gang-free," Paige explained. "At least you can meet Henry now; hit two mortals with one stone."

Patty chuckled at her daughter's humor and saw the two mortals enter. Peter was in the arms of his foster father and the two guys looked at the two women before them.

Peter didn't know what to make of Patty, but was happy to see his Paigey some more on his birthday. His foster mother gracefully walked towards him and he stretched out for her, hoping that his _Henny_ would release him from his grip. Henry did so and Peter was in Paige's arms, instantly playing with her hair.

"Henry and Peter, there is someone I'd like to introduce you to," Paige started, bouncing Peter on her side. "My mother, Patty."

Henry walked over to Patty and offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Halliwell."

"No need to be so formal, dear. You can call me by my name or even 'Mom' if you want," Patty informed, quickly shaking his hand. "I don't mind."

"No disrespect, but I do, Patty. I've gone through a lot of homes where people expected me to call them a certain name against my wishes, so I'd like to just keep it simple for my own sake, if you don't mind," Henry replied.

Patty smiled and embraced her son-in-law. "I don't mind at all." She then lowered her voice and whispered into Henry's ear, "Sam wanted me to tell you that he'll be returning in a respectable time to help you." She then pulled away to avoid the suspicion of whispering and just looked at him.

Henry nodded, understandably. Paige knew of his previous encounter with Sam, but still didn't know about the childhood that scarred him.

Patty turned on her heel and focused on the little boy in Paige's arms. "Why hello, Peter. How are you?"

"Fine," Peter simply responded. "How is you?"

Patty blushed at the boy's manners. "I'm doing very, very well. Thank you." She turned to Paige and said, "He's a very adorable young man." The deceased witch then heard a jingle that was restricted to her hearing and she sorrowfully turned to the rest of the room. "I'm afraid I have to go. They're calling for me."

Peter looked at Paige, puzzled, "I don't hears a phone."

Patty blushed some more and realized her slip. "It's on vibrate, dear."

Paige moved over to Henry and passed him Peter. "You should take him downstairs."

"Isn't she coming?" Peter asked.

"She'll be going down in a moment, honey. Just go and play with the boys, alright?"

Peter nodded and shouted, "Nice to meet yous!" Patty blew a kiss at him and understanding it because his own mother used to do the same thing, Peter reached out for it, clawed the air and grabbed the imaginary kiss.

"Take care, Patty," Henry said, leaving the attic with his son.

Patty gave Paige one last hug before stepping through the Great Divide, losing her solid body. The spirit said, "You're going to be a fantastic mother, Paige. You've taken on the task already unexpectedly and I'm proud of you. You must feel far in this path of discovering yourself, aren't you?"

Paige nodded, "Yeah and my next stop is a career. All these kids aren't going to come cheap, ya know." The two exchanged final smiles. "Thanks for coming to have this well needed talk, Mom."

"Anytime, my dear. If you ever need help with this pregnancy, you call on me, your Grams, or just take the easiest path with orbing on back here to chat with Piper," Patty suggested. "Do what you have to do discover yourself. You're living a life of danger and you don't want to die knowing you're leaving more than your family behind... but the knowledge of who you are as well." Patty glowed and glistened away.

Paige looked up to the ceiling and saw beyond it. "Thanks, Mom."

**End of Chapter**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapters. To all those who review this chapter, I'd like to thank you for doing so because it'll help me reach and even go past the 200th review for this story and you can't know how much that'll make me happy to get to this point already. I'll be sure to thank many of you personally when that time comes.**


	15. Witchmas

**A/note:** Alright, I just wanted to thank the people who helped me make my way to my 200th review and it's got even better since then. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate you for stopping to give me comments as opposed to reading and leaving me in the dark about it. So this chapter is dedicated to those who have consistently reviewed this series. **Credit: **Ross (RJF) also created most of the Phoenix background used in the first Cameron scene, so credit to him.

**Chapter 15- Witchmas**

**Synopsis: **The Demon of Grouchiness plots to rob Christmas, feeding off the disappointment of children. It's up to Paige to take in the power of Santa Claus to deliver the presents to the children all around the world with Whitelighters to assist her with the orbing around. Will Christmas be saved or gone from the world forever? (If you'd like to adopt this story-line, you're either younger than ten or stupid.)

**Disclaimer: **For those who don't know the truth about Santa... don't read any further.

**December 25th, 2006**

Young Peter's eyes slowly fluttered open. He was under the covers of Paige and Henry's bed, right in-between his foster parents. They were still sound asleep, but Peter slowly began to drift back to sleep until he remembered what day it was. His body jolted forward and slid out from under the covers. The rapid motion caused Paige and Henry to stir in their sleep and Peter jumped twice and shouted, "It's Christmas!"

His high voice woke up his parents and he continued to bounce to wake them up. His brown bangs flapped with him and Paige and Henry looked at him, smiling. They too realized what day it was.

"Can we goes open presents?" Peter asked.

"Hold on there, tiger," his foster mother said. "We gotta go and brush those little teeth first."

"Come on, Paige," Henry said. "It's Christmas. Can't his teeth wait until after we clean the wrapping paper from the floor?"

The Witchlighter surrendered, "I suppose." She looked Peter in the eyes and said, "Don't run going down the stairs. Hold the railing."

Peter smiled and jumped onto the edge of the bed, landing on his behind and bounced once in the air. The bounce didn't plop him back onto the bed, but instead dropped him to the floor on his hands and knees. The little mortal didn't care though. He quickly rubbed his hands together and proceeded with running to the stairs.

"Aren't we going with him?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, but of course he's going to run ahead of us, so I had to throw in that stairs precaution," Paige explained, pulling the covers off of them. She picked up her aqua blue robe from the floor and slipped in, waiting for her husband to walk down with her.

Henry threw on a brown fleece and walked over to his wife. "Merry Christmas, Paige." This was their first Christmas together and they originally didn't think they'd be sharing it with a child. The two embraced in a passionate kiss and remembered they had a child down there.

"Let's hurry before Speedy down there leaves a mess without leaving us the memories of it," Paige rambled.

"Stop rambling," Henry joked, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before taking her hand. The two walked out of their bedroom and to the steps where they didn't hear presents being opened. They reached the bottom floor where they saw Peter patiently sitting by the tree.

The Christmas tree was only about four feet tall. The expenses were running low in the Mitchell-Matthews home and the little oak tree was all they could afford. The golden star on the top was put on by Peter with Henry's help and the silver trimming that was spiraling around the tree was picked out by Peter. All the red and gold ornaments were hung on by Paige and Peter and their tree was made.

Under the tree were several presents, but nothing too big. Everything was very budgeted this Christmas. This only made Paige want to search for a job even more. This time next year, they would be buying presents for three children. Henry's salary wasn't going to be enough for rent, weekly needs, and all other expenses that come with three children. Those worries would have to wait until tomorrow. It was Christmas today.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Henry asked. "You don't want to open the presents?" He walked over to the tree and scooped up a small present that was wrapped in a green sheet with a yellow ribbon. "We can always take them all back to the store."

"No, no, no! I was just waiting for you guys!" Peter exclaimed. "Can I haves it back?"

"Thanks for waiting. This present is for Paigey though," Henry said, turning to his wife. "You can go open your presents now."

Peter saw a present with his name on the label and savagely tore the wrapping paper off.

Paige smirked at Henry and asked, "So whatcha got there?"

Henry handed it to her and replied, "Why not open it and see for yourself?"

Paige willingly took the present and slowly pulled apart the ribbon. She was never a huge fan of Christmas, but did like it to be another excuse to get the family together. Especially since life had been as hectic as it was lately. Paige was forced to go on sabbatical with her charge duties ever since coming into the care of Peter and growing with the twins.

She dropped the ribbon to the floor and watched as it waved back and forth while descending. She finished teasing her husband and unwrapped the present quickly. She was now holding a black suede box and looked up at her husband, "Jewelry. You're brilliant. Considering I'm going to be enormous, I won't be able to fit in any sexy clothes, but jewelry will always remain loyal to me. Enormous or not." She opened the box and saw a pair of sterling silver earrings with a matching necklace.

The Witchlighter smiled, "Henry, you didn't have to do all of this. This must've cost a fortune." She blushed, stunned at such an unexpectedly great present.

"I went all out for you. Your present cost the most, but you are the one I care the greatest deal for," Henry explained. "This is our first Christmas together and you're going to be the mother of my daughters and you're already a fantastic mother to Peter. You also save the world when you're able, so my present to you is small compared to what you should be getting."

Paige was about to go over and kiss her generous husband when their adoptive son interrupted, "Paigey saves the world? Like a super hero?"

Henry and Paige looked at each other awkwardly. Paige blushed on that matter now and said, "Just like a super hero." She turned to Henry and said under her breath, "Except without the lame costume."

The mortal laughed and said, "When are you going to tell him about the creatures that run loose at night?"

"I wish it was just at night. Those _creatures_ don't discriminate with the sun or moon. Unless they need it for a ritual, of course," she noticed she was going off-topic. "My point is that I can't just tell him the good stuff, can I? I would have to warn him about all the dark things and I don't want his knowledge to endanger him or frighten him."

"This is your secret so you're going to have to think on this. You don't want someone to _pop_ in one day and have Peter clueless. We would have to teach him what to do in that sort of situation," Henry explained. He turned back at his foster son and said, "That can wait until later. For now, let's just watch him."

Paige turned to Peter to see what her husband was talking about. Peter was opening up his second present and smiled at the white fire truck in his possession. He pulled it out the box and with the press of one button, the fire truck mimicked the noise of a siren and its headlights were blinking red. The one year old was amazed and began to make his own siren noise to play along with that of the fire truck.

Henry wrapped his arm around Paige's shoulders and pulled her closer. The two just watched without saying another word, captured in this sight of a little boy who was inserting himself in another world.

**(X)**

In an ancient realm, Billie and her mercenary ally Cameron were camping out in a forest. There was nothing special about the environment as it mirrored the ordinary forests in their home world. A gray tent was folded up a few feet from Billie and Cameron and the two were sitting by a campfire that was surrounded by small boulders to prevent a forest fire.

"Its risky having any fire out," Cameron reminded Billie for the second time this evening.

Billie rubbed her hands over the fire, welcoming the desired warmth. "I know, I know. I don't see you blowing it out though."

The risk with having the exposed fire was that firestarters could locate them by sensing the element. Billie and Cameron had been attempting to successfully retrieve Christy's tracking stone for over a month now with no success. Each time they grew closer, but the security tightened ever since. They were also on the run now and this spot was the latest of many.

"It's cold at night and you need the heat," Cameron considerably replied. "I'm perfectly capable to survive this cold, but you're not."

"No kidding," Billie said, now hugging her navy blue jacket around her body. "This happens to be the coldest of nights. I wish I trained myself to be able to brave this cold like you."

"I didn't train myself. We Pho-," Cameron stopped.

"What? What is it? Just tell me already," Billie said. "Is it such a sin to tell me what the hell you are? Telling me you were a mercenary was such a baby step, but let's start walking already. What are you?"

Cameron rolled his eyes and gave in. Billie had been harassing him since they left their home realm to come clean with what he truly is, "It's nothing too spectacular. I'm a Phoenix. That's why I'm not really that cold. My body temperature is three times what yours is. Now add that info with everything else you've dragged out of me and you can build the puzzle that is Cameron Hawke."

"I've read about Phoenixes. I can't believe I didn't put that together sooner," Billie commented. "At least you're one of the good ones. Paige told me how she had a run in with one a few years ago and it wasn't pretty."

"Some Phoenixes grow corrupt. They tend to lean towards one side. We're initiated at a young age and become trained assassins," Cameron explained. "I can't say it's a lifestyle I would've ever chosen for myself, but I've grown really accustomed to it. There are plenty of perks as well."

"Such as what?"

"Treasures and respect," the mercenary answered. "I have a vault with little treasures I've received as payments. The payments really vary; some could be standard gold tokens, others are weapons and I have plenty of things that are from old wars."

"That's awesome!" Billie exclaimed. "Would you mind if you show me your phoenix tattoo? I've only seen the illustration in the Book of Shadows and it would be great if you'd show me yours."

"Only if you share something about yourself. And I want to hear about something other than your sister for once," Cameron said. "I know you love her, but it gets old."

The young witch looked offended, but found his complaint to be rational. All she did was rant about saving Christy, being with Christy and the all-time famous _killing_ Christy. "What do you want to know?"

Cameron thought for a second and said, "How in the hell did you get the Charmed Ones to take you under their care? I can only imagine how much harassment they went through with you, knowing everything they know about magic. You're highly curious about... _everything_."

"Uh, I'll take that as a compliment," Billie said. "My early days as a witch were pretty embarrassing. I came into my powers weeks before meeting the sisters after my father called me one afternoon. He was pissed that he was paying all this tuition for school and I was failing metaphysics. My anger got the best of me and a couple of things began to move by themselves around the room."

"I bet you were just surprised to have your powers come across so late," Cameron guessed. "You have some pretty latent genes."

"No, I wasn't just surprised to have my powers come late, I was surprised to have them _come_ at all!" She rubbed her hands together some more, silently pleading for the freezing weather to cease. "Anyways, my power started occurring more and more frequently. At first I thought I was just bugging out, but nope. It was me, obviously. I began to test it and noticed it didn't only happen when I was angry. But whenever I wanted."

"I have no clue how you claimed control so easily," Cameron said. "A power like telekinesis isn't something you should be wielding so easily. It should take great practice."

Billie shrugged her shoulders, "It beats the hell out of me. I went to a couple of occult shops after and it just wasn't good for my image to be seen in there. A couple of people on campus started rumors that quickly faded and went ignored. They didn't have proof-"

"As nice as it is to hear about your little gossip wars, perhaps you can entertain me with that another time," Cameron said.

"Right. Sorry about that, I tend to get off-topic," Billie apologized. "So... I read through the books, taught myself a few things and eventually came across my first demon. I figured that witches needed to be concealed, otherwise I'd know more about them, so I thought the best solution to that was to wear a costume."

Cameron snickered, "You wore a costume? Let me guess; conical hat and carried around a broom?"

She blushed, "No. Worst." She looked down, embarrassed and said, "A black wig, shades and matching tights."

The mercenary couldn't contain his laughter any further. "Weren't people on the street laughing at you?"

"Sure they were. I got laughs, confused looks, whistles, and even a Pepsi thrown at me," Billie answered, chuckling slightly at how she actually wore that costume. "Moving along, I met the sisters and they had this identity spell up originally, but they dulled the effects of the enchantment on me with another spell."

Cameron stopped laughing and pulled up his sleeve, "That qualifies as a story for me." He held out the crimson bird emblazoned on his right wrist for Billie to see. She walked over and sat down next to him, eyeing the tattoo.

"It's beautiful," she commented.

"It's my blood," he replied, shocking her. "When we're born, they use the blood of our birth to paint the tattoos. It's our way of being able to prove that we are Phoenixes."

"Why would you need to prove it?"

"Many reasons. We have a charter that we follow and one of the rules is that we're to call off a hit if we run into another Phoenix," Cameron answered. "Cowards would just claim they were Phoenixes to save their own asses, so this method was introduced to us all."

"What other rules do you have?" Billie asked, fascinated.

"I've shared enough, Billie. I say you just get some rest. We'll be charging the castle at dawn to avoid any Night Fiends," Cameron said. "I'm going to go high up and monitor the area of any incoming attacks."

"Cam-"

The mercenary looked up to the frightening black sky and shot up into the air in a stream of black molecules. The molecules that made up Cameron couldn't be seen at this time of night. He'd be free to roam around undetected for the entire night if it wasn't for the buzzing that accompanied him in his teleportation form.

Billie gave in and decided that Cameron was right. Although he was dismissive, he did share enough and she was forced to be grateful for that. She crawled into her tent and placed a crystal in front of the opening. A light ejected from the crystal and connected with four others just like it, protecting Billie while she slept. She was aware that if the firestarters attacked, it wouldn't be enough to hold them off, but it would allow her enough time to plot a proper defense. No worries for tonight though. Tonight she'd sleep.

**(X)**

"Check out this snow!"

Everyone turned around to see what Phoebe was shouting about and saw pure white snow falling from the sky. They all rushed to sunroom and watched as the numerous snowflakes showered down slowly. This was the first time it snowed all season and the entire Halliwell family were present in the Mitchell-Matthews home to experience it.

Piper looked down at her boys and suggested, "Why don't you two go put on your coats, gloves and hats? Then you can go outside."

Wyatt and Chris were about to run off until Wyatt stopped his little brother. He looked up at Piper and asked, "Mommy, can Peter come too?"

Piper turned to Paige and back at her sons, "You would have to ask Aunty Paige and Uncle Henry."

Henry and Paige joined together, waiting for the eldest Halliwell child to request permission for their best friend and now cousin.

The blond boy walked over to his aunt and uncle and asked, "Can Peter play with us in the snow?"

Peter ran over to his foster parents at tugged at their shirts, "Pwease, cans I pway?! Pwease, Henny! Pwease, Paigey!"

"What do you think, _Henny_?" Paige asked.

"That'd be fine with me, _Paigey_," Henry replied, snickering at the nicknames.

Peter jumped in excitement and the three boys ran together to get dressed.

Phoebe walked over to Coop who was sitting on the wicker couch and sat on his lap. She threw her arms around his neck and said, "So when are we going to make one of those kids?"

"How about we make one of our own and not one of _those_," Coop jokingly replied. "I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, but I can't wait so we can give each other nicknames."

Paige rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Piper, "So why exactly did you give the kids permission to play in snow that hasn't fully fallen yet?"

"Oh, Paige. You're such a rookie at this parenting gig," Piper joked and turned to Leo who just came behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Would you like to answer that one, honey?"

Leo kissed Piper on the cheek and turned to Paige and Henry, "By the time they manage to get their coats on, then fight their way into their gloves, and slip their hats on, the snow will be layered all around the ground."

"And then Chris is going to have to use the bathroom so the others will wait for him to undress, use the bathroom, get dressed again and then even _more_ snow will be on the ground," Piper continued. "It's a really beautiful cycle."

"Piper, I think I would've preferred a Parenting Guidebook, personally written by you and Leo, as opposed to the extra maternity clothes," Paige said. "Despite how beautiful they all are."

"Hey, it was necessary. Phoebe bought you shirts when she thought you were having one child, but now you're locked and loaded with two kids," Piper quipped. "That's seriously packing."

Paige smiled and looked down at her four month old stomach. The twin girls inside her were growing and Paige feared she wouldn't be able to walk properly soon enough. She was dreading the idea of having to sit in bed all day. There's no adventure in that. "Maybe if I had Phoebe's power to levitate, things would be easier for me when these two get huge."

"Ha!" Phoebe shot out a sarcastic laugh, "_Phoebe_ doesn't have her power of levitation, so you're sure as hell not getting it. I think having my powers back would've been the perfect gift today."

"Even better than the new camera I got you?" Coop asked. Being a cupid didn't pay any money, so Henry had considerably given Coop some money to buy his fiance a gift. That was more money out of his wallet.

Phoebe smiled at him and placed her hand on his face, "Yes." Her fiance frowned, but it was no longer visible as the psychic witch placed her lips on his, kissing him.

Piper covered Leo's eyes with a chuckle, "Alright, get on upstairs and stop checking my sister out." They all laughed at her humor and she continued with, "Those kids aren't going out there alone." She felt her husband of many years untie his arms from around her and followed her _order_.

Phoebe stopped kissing her fiance and asked her younger sister, "Paige, are you going out there? If not, I can always watch little Peter for you."

"Thanks, Pheebs. I appreciate that. I'm not sure if I should risk heading on outside," Paige said. "I'm just in the first month of my second trimester and I have an increase in cramps and nausea. I'm not trying to have either happen while out there." She held out her hand and gently commanded, "Camcorder."

The video camera orbed on top of her open palm and she quickly clasped it with both hands. "But I will use your very generous gift to remember this as Peter's first Christmas with us." She looked around at everyone else, "You _all_ aren't excused though unless you're carrying twins. So go and get dressed."

"Yes, General Matthews," Phoebe obeyed, saluting before getting off of her fiancé's lap. She walked through one of the sunroom's entrances to get her outer wear.

Coop rose to his feet and said, "Sorry I can't play along. I have work to do." He vanished in a pink flash that was accompanied with a bolder pink shaped heart.

Piper and the Mitchells were the last ones in the sunroom and she folded her arms over her chest, "So how are you two doing? Are you adjusting as parents?"

"Yeah, we're doing fine," Henry answered. "It took me a while to get used to diapers, but I got the hang of it. I didn't even think one year olds still wore diapers."

"Sure they do. Peter is highly likely to be wearing diapers. He hasn't exactly had that safe environment home where he would have time to be potty trained. Even kids that are potty trained are often stuck in diapers until age three," Piper explained to the newbie parents. "You guys are doing fine though. He seems to really love you guys already."

"We love him already," Paige said. "This kid has us laughing and entertained through each day."

"And how's he handling his parents' death?" Piper questioned. This was a concern she had for Peter ever since Paige and Henry took him in. She feared the deaths would scar him for good.

"He tends to have nightmares. Though they are happening less and less lately and he even told us that we were in a dream with him this week," Henry explained to his sister-in-law. "We're making a positive impact on him."

"He even prays at night that he hopes his parents are okay in Heaven," Paige informed. "I'm just glad that he's able to get through the day and just have fun. That's all we can ask of him right now." She then turned to Henry and patted him on the chest, "Aren't you supposed to be getting your coat on?"

"I'm going," the mortal surrendered and left to do so.

"I think I'm going to go and get my coat as well before you hit me," Piper grinned and left the sunroom, leaving Paige alone.

Paige was left with the camcorder and inspected it, "Now how the hell do I turn this damn thing on?"

**(X)**

"Get up."

Billie's green eyes opened once before sliding back down. She adjusted herself on her pillow and ignored the voice.

"Get up," Cameron repeated, this time pushing Billie's leg with his palm. "It's dawn. We gotta move now."

The witch jolted up and rubbed her eyes with her fists. "I'm up, I'm up." She looked over at the mercenary who was crouched down besides her and pushed her covers off, glad to know that the intense cold finally passed. She looked back at Cameron and asked, "Did you catch any sleep last night?"

"I've done enough sleeping for a lifetime," Cameron informed, earning a puzzled look from Billie. "Besides, we gotta make sure these guys aren't following us. If both of us are knocked out sleeping, we'd be waking up at noon with fireballs hovering over us."

Billie rubbed her face and slapped her cheeks three consecutive times. The mercenary glared at her and she simply stated, "It's necessary. Back up."

Cameron crawled out of the tent with Billie following. She stretched her arms out and bent over, touching the damp ground. She resumed proper stature and asked him, "Did it rain last night?"

"Yeah, I don't see how you could've slept through all of it," Cameron said. "It rained about ten minutes after I left you and I must say that it was an enormous pain in the ass to fly through."

"Fly?" Billie asked. Her eyes widened in realization, "Oh, that teleportation thing you do." She looked at all her camp settings and asked him, "Should I project it away?"

"No," Cameron said. "I have a plan that might take some of the guards away from the castle. If you're hungry, I suggest you project a hot-pocket into your hand because we're out of here in two minutes."

"I'm not hungry," Billie lied, wanting to get a move in with infiltrating the castle. "Do what you have to do."

Cameron held out his hand to Billie who receptively took it. With his free hand, he generated a neon blue energy ball that crackled through the silent forest. With a soft thrust, he released it from his possession and it made instant contact with the gray tent. The low voltage energy ball ignited the tent and the flames quickly spread around, burning it entirely.

The mercenary kneeled down and handed Billie a brown leather book bag of hers, "Here. I packed your crystals." He cast one final glance at the burning tent and said, "The firestarters should track a fire this great."

Both Cameron and Billie vanished in a large cloud of black molecules that flew away from the campsite, making their way to the castle that was home to deadly traps and fierce firestarters.

**(X)**

In the Mitchell-Matthews backyard, Peter and Chris were currently making their best attempt to build a snowman. It wasn't going well to construct the base out of snow. They had trouble molding the curves and whenever they did an acceptable job, Wyatt would accidentally crash into it when fleeing Leo and Henry's snowballs.

Piper and Phoebe were currently on their knees, molding up as many snowballs as they could in anticipation of a snowball fight they were planning with the kids. Phoebe was competing with Piper to have a bigger pile and whenever her older sister turned around to collect more snow, she would sneakily take a couple of hers and added them to her pile. Piper had yet to catch on, but Paige had been watching the entire thing from inside the sunroom.

She felt old rocking back and forth in her chair, but ignored it as time passed. It was a soothing feeling to feel that most gentle of wind pass by you with every rock. The camcorder was on her lap and she was saving the film for the coming snowball fight, but managed to record a clip of Phoebe stealing Piper's snowballs to show her eldest sister later. The entire family would be bound to have a great laugh after watching it.

"Time out," Piper said to her younger sister. "I gotta go run inside real quick and check on Paige." The eldest rose from her knees and headed towards the sunroom doors where Paige had already anticipated, hearing the discussion.

"Hey," Paige greeted, observing Piper's rosy cheeks from the cold.

"How are you feeling?" Piper asked, embracing the warmth of the conservatory.

"Just thinking," she answered. She saw Piper shoot her a questionable look and she continued, "What do you think on me introducing magic to Peter? He can't be living in the dark forever."

Piper sat down on the wicker bench diagonally across from Paige and said, "You bring a valid point. He also trusts you guys and you don't want to risk him going off the edge after being shocked with demons hurling around fireballs. He wouldn't know how to handle it. The huge risk is that he knows death well. It robbed both his mother and father from him, so he's alert that it can happen any day. And the more he grows attached to you guys..."

"The more he's going to fear for us," Paige finished. "But maybe he'll feel safer knowing that I have powers to protect myself, as well as him and Henry." She looked outside and saw Peter laughing hysterically at the snow on Wyatt's head, placed on him by his father. "I think before I go scaring him though, I should show him that magic can be fun and entertaining."

"Paige, magic isn't for fun," Piper stated. "You don't have the power to orb to go wherever you want, you have it because..."

"I know, I know," Paige interrupted. "But he's just a one year old and doesn't have magic of his own. Wyatt and Chris both grew up with powers of their own and understood it naturally. Peter didn't have that going for him and maybe if I start off showing him how fun my powers are, he'll ease into it and then I can teach him about the dangers of them as well."

Piper nodded, "Its worth a shot. Better now than later though. I just hope he accepts it easily."

The redhead rose from her rocking chair with minimum difficulty and passed the camcorder to Piper. She then held out her arms and said, "Coat!" She skillfully orbed her green coat from the closet and the orbs slid by her arms and down her back, ultimately putting the coat on Paige.

"Personal gain," Piper reminded in a sing-song voice.

Paige shrugged, "I really don't care at the moment." She reached into her pockets, grabbed her gloves and put them on. She bounced her shoulders and sung, "Hat!" A hat orbed directly onto Paige's head and she tightened it. She looked at Piper and said, "We're good to go."

"I'm not so sure you should be teaching Peter about magic when you purposely ignore a golden rule," Piper said with a smirk.

Paige smiled and said, "Yeah, well, this is very minor magic. I'm just glad that we don't have to go around the world chasing some demon trying to steal Christmas? How lame would that have been?"

Piper smirked, "Pretty lame."

The two sisters stepped outside and everyone smiled to see Paige come out.

"Paigey!" Peter exclaimed. He ran over to his foster mother and bent down before her, picking up snow. He had trouble forming it into a perfect snowball, but threw it at her stomach. "I hits the babies too!"

"Yes you did, cutey," Paige laughed. "Be careful though, they're very sensitive."

"What inspired the change?" Henry asked from across the snowy garden, helping Chris make his snowman.

"I kinda have to talk to Peter about _something_," Paige said. "Remember when we had that _talk_?"

Henry nodded and stopped molding the base of the snowman. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I'm ever going to be. I took my chances with you, but now I have to take my chances with him," Paige said. "Are you okay with that?" The decision was just as much his as it was hers. He nodded in acceptance.

Paige turned over her shoulder and asked Piper, "Mind telling Phoebe what's going on here? Maybe put up some sort of protection so no one can see us?"

Understanding, Piper moved over to Phoebe where she would tell her about Paige's plan and try to form a concealment spell.

To the best of her ability, Paige crouched down and got on her knees. She held Peter's hand and just came out with, "Peter, do you believe in magic?"

"Yeah," Peter answered. "Like, 'specially in stowies and movies."

"I mean magic in real life," Paige said. "You don't believe in that?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Wouldn't it be really cool to see some magic?" The boy nodded up and down in excitement, and this was a huge step for Paige. She now had an opening, she turned around to Phoebe and asked, "Are we good?"

The middle sister nodded with her hands folded before her, "Good luck, honey."

Paige turned back to her foster son and held her hand out to him. "There's nothing on my hand, right?"

Peter nodded, "Nope."

Paige smiled, feeling like an actual magician, "Do you think I can get snow in my hand without picking it up?"

"No."

"Watch," she said with a smile. "Snowball." A snowball, purposely taken from Phoebe's overstocked pile, vanished in a small flurry of dazzling white and blue orbs and reappeared in Paige's welcoming palm in the same fashion.

"Wow!" Peter exclaimed. "That's magic?"

"It sure is, little dude," Paige answered. "Want to see some more?"

"Yeah!" Peter shouted. "Can you teach me to do it?"

That struck Paige in the heart because she now knew she had to break his. "I actually can't, sweetie. Magic's not for everyone. Henry doesn't have magic, Leo doesn't have magic and they're okay. Aunt Piper and Phoebe have magic though."

Peter turned to them and back at Paige, "Only the girls has magic?"

"Not exactly," Paige said. "Wyatt and Chris both have magic too because Piper gave birth to them. We're all _good_ witches, but that's because it's in our blood."

"I'ms not in your blood?" Peter asked. He was well aware that Paige and Henry weren't his birth parents, but the concept of a bloodline isn't something he was ever taught about.

"No, you're from your parents' blood," Paige explained. "I can explain that to you later, but it doesn't mean that you can't have fun just because you don't have magic of your own. I just wanted to be honest with you. Are you okay with me being a witch?"

Peter nodded, "Yeah, I'm okays with it. Can we throws snowballs?"

Paige chuckled, "Yeah, we can. Go get some." He ran off and Paige's sisters approached her, "I guess it was easy considering he's a little boy. He must be stuck in that fantasy stage."

"That may be it," Piper said, raising the camcorder, "But now we can have our snowball fight. Let's make teams!" She moved over to the corner of the garden and turned the camcorder on and letting it out of her hands. With a quick swirl of her finger, she froze the camcorder and suspended it within the air to record down the first family snowball fight.

Paige turned to Phoebe and said, "I think I want to team up with Phoebe. And I'm taking my husband and son naturally."

Piper looked at Leo and her boys, "Let's go!" Her immediate family charged to her. They were outnumbered by adults, but they had more witches on their team. And she knew that Leo was a good shot.

The two teams collected their snowballs and brought them to their sides. Everyone picked one up and waited for Piper to start the fight.

"Ready..." Piper rolled up her snowball some more. "Set..." She stared at Phoebe, her first target. "Go!" She released the snowball at her younger sister.

Having been trained to dodge deadlier shots, Phoebe moved to the side and allowed it to fly by her. Like a potion, Phoebe launched her snowball at defenseless Leo and laughed when it hit him in his chest.

Peter was throwing his second snowball, but they never went far enough. He picked up a third and tossed it. This snowball shouldn't have gone any further than two feet, but due to some assistance with Paige's telekinetic abilities, the snowball sped towards Wyatt and hit him in the shoulder. Peter clapped insanely and bent over, not being able to contain his laughter.

Paige smiled and saw a snowball coming right for her. She extended her hand out and shouted, "Snowball!" The balled up snow shone within sparkling orbs and reversed direction. It was heading back to Piper who threw her up hands, freezing it.

"You wanna play like that, Paige?" Piper shouted with a playful smile. She looked down at Wyatt and said, "Throw it back."

Doing more than his mother asked, Wyatt held out his arms before him and four snowballs flew towards the opposing team in rapid orbs. One hit Phoebe in her shoulder and she exaggeratedly fell on her back, screaming, "I've been hit! I've been hit!" Two snowballs flew towards Peter who was still laughing. Being a hero, Henry dived in the way and allowed the snowballs to fly out of orbs and explode against his chest.

Peter saw Henry fall before him and had no idea why, but nonetheless, it entertained him further and he broke into a new chorus of laughter.

Forgetting about the one last snowball as she watched the laughter of her foster son, Paige was the next one hit. The snowball hit her stomach, but since the snow was still fresh, it wasn't anything to risk severe damage to the girls growing inside of her.

The Halliwells on the other side were all giving each other congratulatory high fives. Henry stared at them and turned to his wife, "Go all out, Paige."

"My pleasure," she said. She held out her hands and used her standard telekinesis to launch all the snowballs on their side. Unintentionally, she began to pick some snow off of the ground, giving it a blizzard feeling.

Piper managed to destroy two with her offensive power, while Wyatt and Chris began to orb some back. Young Chris only orbed one at a time, still coming into his powers. Snowballs began to orb back and forth with Paige deflecting the ones that came back her way. Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Henry, and Peter continued to throw snowballs all around and it was just a beautiful sighting that was concealed by Phoebe's spell.

As the orbs flew back and forth, mixed with the path of ordinary snowballs, Paige stopped to think that Wyatt and Chris might be having fun, but were getting good practice out of this. And who knows? Maybe Peter had the potential to be trained himself later in life.

**(X)**

Billie and Cameron turned the corner of the profound castle after having to fight their way through. They entered as soon as they saw a group of firestarters and demons leave the castle to chase after the fire and flew in unnoticed. Until they reformed. A dozen demonic henchmen were guarding the front and immediately released attacks that the mercenary and witch fought off. The killings of the past weren't as important as the creeping in the present.

Cameron took lead and so far hadn't sensed any other presences near by. Billie held onto the straps of the brown leather bag on her back, looking for any enemies on the ceilings or in the walls. "I don't like this..."

"Me either," Billie answered. "Those Magmata demons should've been attacking us by now. Do you think they planned something different since we always seem to..."

A chameleon demon that both Billie and Cameron could've never detected popped out from the walls and enclosed his arms around Billie from the back. She struggled to get loose, but the grip only tightened.

"Cameron!"

The mercenary turned around, alerted by the danger and didn't see anyone holding Billie. He just saw Billie struggling to get free, but no one was wrapped around her. The torches on the dark gothic walls released a soft orange glow on her face, but he was able to tell the difference from the overwhelming red on her cheeks. He held out his arm, preparing to save her until someone took hold of it.

Like Billie's attacker, Cameron couldn't spot his enemy. But the Chameleon made a mistake. He touched him.

The mercenary used his free arm to grab the cloaked hand of the Chameleon and stared at him, although he couldn't see him. His stare was intense and the longer he gazed, the more he saw his foe. Cameron ripped his trapped hand free and swung it immediately at the Chameleon, making contact with his right temple. The fact that he was that high up with his blow concerned Cameron that he almost missed completely.

Still holding onto the Chameleon's left arm, Cameron twisted it around and flipped him over his shoulder. He stepped him on him with his right foot and conjured an energy ball. "Never tease me," were the final words the Chameleon ever heard before the energy ball rolled off of Cameron's hand and ignited him. For a few seconds, the Phoenix was able to see his opponent's face within the blazing flames, but that didn't matter to him. Billie was still in trouble.

While sharply turning around, Cameron held out his hand and a pale yellow glow appeared as he summoned a weapon. Not waiting for it to fully form as he saw Billie losing the color in her cheeks, he tossed it and watched it soar through the distance between them.

Midway, the pale glow materialized into a metallic black sai dagger. The knuckle of the dagger wasn't anything spectacular; just a black base with gold trimming. The hilt had numerous ridges and never flew out of Cameron's hand unless he released it on his own will. The small weapon was similar to a trident, with the two end blades often used to defend the young mercenary. It was a formidable weapon that fought well against swords having the extra two prongs to trap not only the sword, but the one wielding it. The center blade was the one that was famous for capturing the lives of his targets and the well camouflaged Chameleon was no exception. Cameron's blade had a mind of its own.

Billie was too busy losing consciousness to see the lethal weapon making her way to her and Cameron preferred it this way. She had a habit of freaking out when weapons were thrown her way. The sai finally made contact and Cameron knew this because it stopped moving without having seen it collide with anything. He just saw it plunged in the air until the cloak of the Chameleon finally fell through.

His grip around Billie was weakened and she fell right out of his arms and onto the dark gray marble floor, weakly rolling to her side. Flames seemed to surge all around the demon and his eyes were frozen open as the blade was revealed to have hit him in-between the eyes. Green blood began to slide out the corners of his eyes, but the final flames caught up with him and consumed him completely.

The sai dagger survived and dropped onto the floor, clattering. Its owner rushed to Billie's side and slid onto his knees. "Are you alright?"

She coughed violently and rubbed her throat, "I'll... be fine." She stared at his sai, "Nice shot. How is it that it survives through all those burning vanquishes?"

Cameron chuckled, "No way in hell those demons are strong enough to blow it up." Truth was, Cameron had enchanted the sai along with its twin blade that made several appearances in previous fights, with charms to protect it from being swallowed by flames.

The mercenary rose to his feet and extended his hand to Billie, "We gotta get away from here. The Lords of this place are going to get word of this soon enough." He helped her up and mentally summoned his sai into his palm with his minor telekinetic abilities.

Two large doors at the end of the hall slammed open and a pack of Golem demons walked out. Their mud-like skin was gray and they had the posture of a zombie with various scars around their bodies due to poor craftsmanship. They marched towards the mercenary and witch who looked at each other.

"What are those?" Billie asked, having never fought anything like them before in this castle.

"Golems," Cameron answered and paid close attention to their skin. "Fresh out the oven as well. The Lords must've just finished making them."

"They don't seem very dangerous," Billie observed. "Let's blow them up and charge right through."

"If only it was that simple," Cameron commented. "Those doors didn't exactly fly open themselves, so it looks like they've been imbued with power."

"We have powers too," Billie said. "I'll fling them around and you'll blow 'em up."

"I have a better idea to avoid fighting them. Follow me," Cameron said, running into another hallway with Billie quickly following behind.

Angered by their attempt to flea, the Golems picked up as much speed as possible.

**(X)**

The Halliwells were finally resting in the living room watching the snowball fight from earlier. Peter was under a blanket and sat in-between his foster parents laughing at the video. Wyatt was sitting with his Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coop, pointing and laughing at his uncle at the footage of him returning and instantly getting nailed by Phoebe's snowball. Chris was worn out and sleeping on his mother's lap while Piper relaxed her head on Leo's shoulder.

"So this is definitely going down as a favorite Christmas," Paige said. "And why wouldn't it? We had the greatest snowball fight."

"Yeah, but it'll be better if people don't steal my snowballs next time," Piper commented, turning to her guilty sister after seeing the footage on tape.

"Come on, Piper, once everyone started using their powers, it wasn't exactly a fair game anyway," Phoebe replied, hoping to redeem herself.

"Yeah, yeah."

Paige looked at her watch and said, "You guys know you are more than welcome to stay. Billie's still gone and her room is available, so there's a free bed right there."

Phoebe rose to her feet and said, "I actually have to go home and work." Her sisters glared. "Well, I'm not working tonight, but tomorrow morning. I got a ton of responses I want to get to." She looked at her fiance. "And we have to go home and celebrate our first Christmas together." She posed a lustful smile and poorly winked.

"Eww, gross," Paige said.

"Paige, how did you get those babies?" Phoebe asked.

Paige looked down at her foster son and back at her sister, "The stork brought him, of course." She glared and said, "And _also_ the stork is a better winker!"

Phoebe chuckled and Coop stood up beside her. "Good night, guys." Everyone waved and replied and the two vanished in a pink flash.

Peter was stunned by the way they vanished, but also admired it. He continued to think on it along with the other magic he witnessed today. And whenever he did think about it, he was never scared of it. He was still in the dark about demons though. He would learn soon enough.

The tape ended and Paige turned to Henry, "Can you put Peter to bed?"

"Sure, I can," Henry said, getting to his feet. "Come on, buddy." Peter gave his foster mother a hug and kiss on the cheek before going with his foster father.

The Witchlighter turned to her sister and asked, "Do you guys want to stay? Maybe get up a little extra early and cook breakfast, Piper?"

A wide grin stretched across Piper's face and she said, "We didn't really bring pajamas."

Paige lowered her head, "I have clothes for you and Henry has clothes for Leo. To top it all off, Henry and I bought your little charmed sons some pajamas. Can't say 'no' now, can ya?"

"I guess not," Leo commented. "We'll be happy to stay. We all deserve a peaceful night after _inviting _Santa over last night."

Paige clapped in excitement, "Exactly! Sleep over tonight and bacon in the morning! I'll go and get you guys some covers." In her sitting position, she bounced her shoulders rhythmically and orbed away. Her family hanging out helped make this Christmas night even better. She shared it with her husband and foster son for the first time, played hostess in her house, and most importantly, came clean about her magic to Peter. While that conversation wasn't done yet, they were off to a good start.

**(X)**

Billie and Cameron were both hiding behind pillars on opposite sides in the castle. The Golems were approaching them and Billie nodded for Cameron to move.

The mercenary smirked and stepped out from behind his pillar. "Come and get me, you ugly bastards!"

The Golems tried to run, but only managed a totter, but their speed was in sync. They looked straight away, not anticipating any traps. Once they stepped past Billie, she quickly ran behind them and dropped a crystal to the floor. Five white lights ejected from the crystals and trapped the Golems.

The six soldiers continued to try and break free, but the charged shield would only shock them.

"We got you," Billie sang from behind. They all looked at her and Billie blew a kiss at them. "We'll be back for our crystals later." She ran to Cameron's side and said, "Nice going. Simple, but effective. What's our next move?"

Cameron thought for a second. "We can't teleport because they'll instantly know where we are, so I say we just try and make our way pass everyone until we can reach the Fire Lords. We never had a chance to fight them before, but we know there are two in there."

"Two _real_ bad asses," Billie elaborated. "That heat in front of the door alone is really overwhelming. Are you sure my power is going to be enough to rebound the attacks?"

Cameron nodded. He honestly wasn't sure, but didn't want to doubt her at the risk of making her scared. "We're closing in on them though and we're so close to finally getting this damn thing. As soon as we grab it, we're free to just shimmer back into our world." The Golems continued to shout, but he ignored them. "And let me warn you now; if you get the opportunity to grab the stone and I'm in battle, just get yourself out of here. If I see you escape, I'll know to shimmer away."

"I can't just leave you here, I have to..."

"Get out of here. I'm more than trained to handle myself," Cameron stated. "Let's just go." He walked past her and she followed him.

The two didn't talk as they walked through the labyrinth of halls. In that time, they encountered many foes...

_Cameron and Billie were fighting a clan of Salamander demons. The opponents had oily black skin with yellow eyes and were constantly breathing fire at the intruders. The four Salamander demons breathed streams of fire at once and Billie telekinetically deflected them all, vanquishing their enemies..._

_Two Core demons with their molten-like bodies charged after Billie and Cameron who were running through the halls, knowing through weeks of attempts, they had no means of defeating them. In this castle were many traps, meant to trap Billie and Cameron and other intruders, but the two had learned the tricks of this castle already. They both dived over a part of the floor that seemed to shimmer and rolled onto the opposite side. The Core demons tried to jump over, but were too heavy. Their weight brought them to the floor and they landed on the trap. The shimmering field encased the two demons with a destructive ring and vanquished them..._

_Archers opposed them at the end of the hallway, keeping their distance. But it didn't matter. Cameron's energy balls decimated the arrows as well as the demonic archers..._

Billie and Cameron collected their breath when they finally reached the door, immediately feeling a wave of heat making more sweat slide down their skin. This was the last door of the castle. The room they've been striving to collect the stone from.

"Are you ready?"

"More than you know," Billie replied. "Those hall monitors did do a good number on me though." She was worn out and ready to collapse. They had been finding their way through this maze of a castle for nearly two hours and battling clans in nearly every hall. This was it though. If they didn't do it now, the Fire Lords would only regroup and set new traps for the two. "Let's just get this right."

Both Cameron and Billie pushed one of the large doors and slipped in. The grand room was different from the rest of the castle's interior. It had that Underworld image with several stalagmites, boulders, and stalactites all around. Outcroppings with ash all around them sat in front of the two large beings.

The Fire Lords were sitting in their bronze thrones, staring at the two intruders who entered. Their skin was as black as ash and their eyes burned with their eternal flames. Normally men of their power wore robes to symbolize their profoundness, but not them. All that could be see were their burnt bodies, no doubt from embracing their firestarter form daily.

The Lord on the right stood to his feet and spoke with a booming voice, but Billie didn't understand him. He spoke a dead language and then pointed at her.

"Why the hell is he pointing at me?"

"He wants to burn you," Cameron said, understanding the demonic language. "Firestarters are huge on burning witches. During the Salem Witch Trials, they used to feed off of the pyres and..."

"Really? A lesson right now?" Billie cut him off, rolling her eyes. She looked around and spotted several colorful stones hovering in the corner, "Alright, the stones are there. Let them mouth off while I go snatch one." She ran ahead and Cameron tried to call her back. She turned and saw the standing Fire Lord conjure a fireball that flew out of his hand immediately. The fireball was smaller than she expected and with a quick swipe of her arm, it was easily deflected.

She continued to charge to the stones until a searing fireball slammed into her hip. Billie flew a couple of feet before crashing onto the earthly ground and saw that the fireball tore through her pants with ease, but the burnt skin is what concerned her. She was lucky that the fireball wasn't stronger, but she was betting that they were just teasing her.

Cameron rushed to her side and turned back at the two Fire Lords. "Do your best to get over there to the stones. Use whatever magic you can to find your sister's and I'll distract them."

The mercenary ran away from Billie before they attacked them together. He fired off a series of neon blue energy balls that kept colliding into their chests, with the only result of specks of ash falling to the ground. That didn't make him stop though. Fireballs flew his way, but he would roll past them and send off another energy ball.

The Fire Lords were done playing. The constant shots insulted them and the witch crawling to their stones disgusted them. Steam began to fill the dense air around them as trails of blazing lava began to slide around their bodies. By the time they finished making their way around the firestarters, flames encased their wrists and they looked as if they were human shaped volcanos. Streams of fire flew off of their wrists and towards Cameron.

Cameron was prepared for this. He gracefully jumped into the air and artfully dodged the oncoming flames that made him sweat just by passing through. He landed back down on the ground and reached for a small pouch on his belt. He had been saving it for this encounter. He opened it and charged them. The closer he got, the hotter he did, but the intense heat wouldn't stop him.

He released the pouch and allowed the blue powder to fly out and cover the Fire Lords. The powder embedded itself within the cracks of their exterior and the mercenary held back his triumphant smile. One Fire Lord extended his hand with the intention of releasing more fire, but Cameron's plan was a success. The ice powder temporarily negated the effects of fire depending on the strength of the being. Knowing these opponents were going to be the toughest, he made sure to get a witch to make him the strongest pack possible.

"Billie!" Cameron shouted to the limping witch. "I don't know how much time this bought you, so hurry up!"

She nodded and saw a Fire Lord coming her way. She waved one hand and managed to make him stumble back. He shouted at her with a raspy voice as opposed to his partner's. She extended both hands and applied more force to her push and managed to knock him onto the ground.

Cameron found himself coming in physical combat with the other Fire Lord. He may have been lucky to sustain their pyrokinetic abilities, but if he was to launch off any energy balls, he risked destroying the effects of the powder by blasting the ice. By combat, he could select which area to hit without destroying the ice.

Billie finally made her way to the stones while clutching her burnt hip. There were stones of many colors; yellow, orange, crimson, red, and violet. Billie suspected that the violet one was Christy's because there was only one and she didn't know anything about any other firestarting witches. It was new to Cameron as well, but she had to make sure.

She placed her hands on her head, concentrating with her eyes forced shut. All she was focusing on was Christy. Cameron told her before that these crystals wouldn't be able to project out of place, but she just needed to know which one to pull. "Christy..." she whispered. "Christy... Christy..." her voice raised with each time she said her name, "Christy's stone. Reveal yourself."

A wind passed by, blowing her hair with it and easing her burning wound for a couple of seconds and when she opened them, the violet stone was bathed in a pink glow, confirming this was in fact her older sister's stone. Her projection power saved her once again. Billie grabbed the stone and the room began to tremble violently. To make matters worst, the ice on the Fire Lords finally melted.

Billie quickly limped towards Cameron who was running towards her. He turned his back to his Fire Lord and that was a mistake, unaware that their power returned to them. A blast of pure magma burned through the air and smacked into the mercenary who sensed it too late. His body tore apart and his molecules flew in different directions.

"NO!" Billie shouted, stunned by the sight. She wanted to project herself out of there, but knew this was no condition to concentrate in. With her limp, she was going to be gone for sure. She had come this far, just to die...

The molecules made their way back around and combined into the silhouette of Cameron. His entire body reformed and he turned to the Fire Lord who blew him up, "Do you know how much it hurts to have your body torn apart, you bastard?!" Cameron looked up to the rocky ceiling and saw a large stalactite hanging directly above the foe. He rocketed off a series of three energy balls to ensure it would break and by the third collision, it dropped directly down.

The stalactite crushed the Fire Lord after having drilled him through his temple. Magma began to seep around and fire began to encase his body.

Cameron exploded into a cloud of molecules that swarmed towards Billie. She clutched onto her stone as Cameron's molecules ran into her, making her body mimic the method. He tried to escape immediately, but the castle seemed to have a protection of its own. If they were going to escape this world, they would have to flee the castle first.

The fallen firestarter exploded and a great wave of fire began to chase the molecules as they charged through the halls. The walls were scorched with the passing of the intense flames and Cameron was the one steering the molecules.

He heard Billie thinking, "_How did he survive that_?"

"_Phoenixes are reborn from their ashes_," Cameron explained, mentally. While remaining in his form, him and other passengers would be able to communicate with each other telepathically if they remained teleporting for a duration such as this. He felt the flames catching up to them and he made his best efforts to go faster.

"_Wait, you can hear me?_"

He ignored her. He saw the opening of the castle and heard the roaring of the flames and just flew towards the daylight. Several firestarters were at the entrance and he flew right pass them. The buzzing of his molecules were cancelled out by the roaring flames, which he knew were going to destroy the firestarters now behind him. He shot up into the air and heard the screams of the firestarters and skillfully shimmered out of the dimension while maintaining his current form. They were going home...

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **Thanks for reading, please review.


	16. Speak of Evil

**A/N: **Well, this chapter wasn't intended, but it's very necessary. It's a short chapter though, but I hope it's enough to spark a review out of you guys. This is pretty much a Paige-Peter chapter, and it won't be long before we move further into magical chapters, but I really had to develop Peter some more. Enjoy the chapter and please review.

**Chapter 16- Speak of Evil**

**December 27th, 2006**

Orbs appeared in Paige's bedroom and revealed both Paige and Peter. Peter let go of her hand and tried to catch glimpses of the orbs, but failed. His excitement didn't die down and he looked up at Paige, speaking with his slight 's' addition at the end of words, "Dat was cool! Cans we goes again?"

Paige looked down and gave a disapproving nod. "Sorry, that's enough orbing for today. Are you sure you're not dizzy, Petey?" She often took into account that some people aren't used to instantaneous teleportation and the fact that they could be in a living room one second and a bathroom of another home in the following second was an amazing rush.

"I am fine!" Peter exclaimed, not completely understanding what being dizzy was. Even if he did, he wouldn't have admitted to it as he enjoyed the sensation of losing control of balance after the amazement of orbing. The more he orbed though, the more he began to grow accustomed to the feeling.

"If you say so," a pregnant Paige replied, making her way over to her bed to rest. Orbing since being pregnant seemed to take a toll on her. Paige felt gassy and felt something running up her throat. A burp was forced out of the Witchlighter's mouth and accompanying the released air were a small collective of orbs which vanished quickly.

Peter loved it when this happened. Every time it did happen, his reaction remained as the first. His mouth slowly gaped and would come back together before he dragged on, "Wooow!" The little boy walked over to Paige and put his palms around Paige's kneecaps. "Do it again!"

Paige brushed her red hair out of her face and said, "It only happens by accident." She yawned greatly and eventually fought through the involuntary reflex after covering her mouth with her hand. "You wanna take a nap with me?"

Although it was the early afternoon, Paige and Henry were up all night with Peter who was having a stomachache on account of eating too much of Piper's leftover fudge cake and Christmas cookies when he wasn't supposed to. This resulted in changing of diapers and Paige having to gently sing Peter back to sleep. Henry went to work exhausted and Paige tried to help a healthy Peter get used to orbing in the case she would ever have to orb out with him if a demonic visitor appeared.

"Okay!" An excited Peter answered, removing his hands off of Paige's knees. He hopped onto the bed and slid under the covers to protect himself from the December temperature with snow that continued to pile occasionally since Christmas, which was weather generally bizarre in San Francisco.

The foster mother was glad he was so receptive to the idea of a nap. She really needed it but with Henry at work, she couldn't leave him unattended as she slept. She crawled onto her side and kept a hand on her stomach as she fought to find a comfortable position to rest in. When she finally found the spot on her back, she held onto Peter's shirt with the panic of having to do an emergency orb with him if she found a demon hovering over her when waking from her sleep. These were thoughts that often ran through her lately troubled mind.

**(X)**

_Paige rose from her bed and let out a great yawn. This was the yawn of a woman who regained some of her lost sleep, but could've gone for another hour or two. She turned over to look for Peter on the side of her bed and didn't see him. She instantly panicked and looked up to the door of the room and her soft brown eyes immediately fought through any semblance of being tired into full shock._

_A demon in a black trench coat with a scruffy brown sweater underneath and a grim expression stared at Paige. In his arms was Peter and the demon had his hand clasped over the little boy's mouth, preventing him from screaming. Peter's gentle face was now one of great fear as he was red from the fear and all the blood rushed to his face. He could barely move his hands or feet as he was so frozen in fear and the demon held him elevated in the air with his arm hooked under his neck. _

_Paige nearly cried at the sight of Peter whimpering and she rose as fast as she could out of bed. "Please, don't do anything to him. I'll give you anything. I'll give you my powers! Just let him go!"_

"_No can do," the demon slyly remarked. His expression grew to be really grim and he let out a low growl. "For too long, witches have offered great power to demons in the exchange of lives and demons are constantly screwed over! If I wanted to kill you, I could've done it while you were sleeping. That's not what I want though. I want you to suffer in the name of revenge for all the demons that died to your kind!"_

_Peter bit the demon's hand and was nearly repulsed by what he tasted. Even at a young age, he knew he had to ignore that for the moment. "Paigey! Paigey, help me! This bad man-"_

_The demon smacked his hand over Peter's mouth once again and Peter cried in pain._

"_You bastard!" Paige shouted. She held out her hands and prepared to call for Peter..._

_The demon was quicker though. He darkly chuckled as he dropped Peter to the floor, bruising his little body. He reached down with his hand clawed around Peter's neck. With a violent twist, he cracked-_

Paige shot up from her bed, panting in fear from the nightmare. She turned to her side where she saw Peter resting undisturbed from her forced awakening.

"Just... a nightmare," Paige breathed, pressing her hand to her heart. There had to be a reason for it though. Witches never just got bad nightmares, but were often given warnings of the future. Especially to Paige who had a history of nightmares about great threats. What greater threat could there be than one endangering your child?

**(X)**

"It was terrifying, Henry," Paige spoke into the cordless phone as she continued to watch Peter rest. "The demon just snapped his... I can't even bear to think about it. That image will forever haunt me and I think I finally have to be brave enough to make the next step."

"Paige, do you want me to leave work to be there?" Henry asked on the other end. "I just have a couple of things left to do and I can do them when I get home. Just say the word."

"No, it's alright. You just do what you have to do and I'll handle this," Paige replied. "It scares me that I'm supposed to have this demon talk so soon."

"Better than the sex talk, right?" Henry joked, hoping to cheer her up.

It worked. A small grin curved on Paige's face and she said, "I would hope so, he's one. That's what bothers me as well. He should be worrying about not falling off of his bike and not falling into some deep paranoia about _actual_ monsters living under his bed."

"Yeah, but you never met a monster under your bed, have you?" Henry asked.

"No, the demons I battle are normally scarier or extremely cocky. They also outrank the typical boogey monsters that kids freak out about. Peter's now going to have to worry about mischievous spirits, warlocks, evil witches and-" Paige stopped as she thought about greater threats such as Avo and Rose. She hadn't seen them since reclaiming Magic School and they couldn't be up to any good if they were laying low for so long.

"Paige, maybe you don't have to go into all these specifics with him right now. We talked about this before. Just let him know what he should do to defend himself. This isn't the first time you had to teach someone about demons," Henry reminded, "Unless you've really been exchanging phone numbers and flirting away with your charges and haven't been telling me."

His humor kept Paige grinning and cooled her down from the nightmare. "If that's the case you should be concerned as to whether these twins are yours or not."

"Paige, I know I started the joke, but hearing you play along concerns me. They are mine, right?"

"Of course, Henry! Look, forget about that. Are you okay with me telling Peter? I know you let me decide when I would expose my secret, but a magical snowball fight won't result from this," Paige said, still staring at Peter. "I was given some sort of vision that showed me how scared that little boy can get and a part of me doesn't want to be at fault for that. The other part of me doesn't want to be blamed for when he doesn't know why there is a demon trying to kill him."

"Paige, as hard as it may be, it'll be tougher to deal with Peter not in our lives than scaring him. These are dangers in our world. This is a life you lead and we can't walk around that. I don't know much about magic, but I do think that the nightmare was some sort of vision. Have you given your sisters a call on this?" Henry asked, knowing they would be of more help.

Paige walked to the end of the bed and gently sat down. "No, I haven't. I don't want to get everyone too excited. Piper would scold me for not telling him sooner and Phoebe would be here waiting for a demon that isn't coming. I feel like I should cast a truth spell on him..."

"Isn't that the spell you told me you used on that sleazy guy last year? The one that should've been charged on many accounts of theft, impersonation, and a list that goes on?" Henry asked, remembering when Paige explained the dynamics of the truth potion she used after confessing to him.

"Yeah, that's the one," Paige answered, frowning when she thought of a hole in her plan. "My following problem would be that what if I see that he can't handle it? By casting the spell, I'm left with the consequence of remembering his fear and even though he'll forget, I'm still left with the problem as to what to do with him." Frustrated, she ran her hand through red hair and bounced it around. "This makes me think we made the wrong choice, Henry. We brought a poor, defenseless mortal boy into a home where we would expect him to be able to hide himself from demons. What kind of parent does that?"

Henry quickly followed on the other end, "We've been good parents, Paige. This just happens to be one of the toughest things we'll have to do when it comes to Peter. Look, do you want me to come home now? I can be there in a few if I flip my badge around to avoid traffic cops."

Paige sighed, "No, I need you to make that money." She saw Peter stirring and nodded, "He's waking up now. Just wish me luck."

"Good luck, Paige. Call me if anything," Henry said. "I love you."

"Love you too," Paige replied as she hung up the phone and placed it on the bed. "How we doing over there?" she gently asked, tickling his feet. The young boy laughed and Paige stopped. "Are you hungry?"

Peter slid up from the covers and rubbed his eyes with his fists. It was something he saw Henry do often and he began to take after him. "Yes," Peter answered.

Paige got up from the bed and walked over to him, extending her hand. "Why don't we go downstairs then and I can make you something to eat?"

Peter took her hand and asked, "Cans we orb?"

The foster mother stared down at him and released another sigh, "Considering what I have to tell you, I'll throw you a bone." The two were consumed in orbs and carried downstairs.

**(X)**

After receiving a head rush from all the orbing and walking too fast, Paige decided she would continue to slowly move around the house and this applied as well when she approached Peter at the kitchen table with a plate of chopped vegetables.

Peter was sitting on the chair on his knees and his arms were folded on the table as he stared into the mixed vegetables. He picked up his plastic red spork and immediately went straight for the green beans, pushing the carrots to the side for later. "Thanks, Paigey."

"No problem," Paige replied, grinning at her foster son before she would confess something dark. She feared she would now corrupt his sincerity with this new knowledge. It was still necessary though. "Petey, we actually have to talk about something. Do you mind if we do so right now?"

"Talk 'bouts what?" Peter asked, chewing on the chopped stalks of his broccoli.

"About magic," Paige replied, resting her chin on her fist. She saw a smile on his face and she said, "I figured you'd like that. This is really serious though and not a joke, so you have to understand that. Although you may think magic is fun, I told you before that my powers aren't used to play around. They're meant to protect people, but now is the time I tell you who I protect them from."

Peter continued to eat his broccoli, not necessarily fazed by her information. He nodded along and picked out another chopped stem.

"I tend to fight bad people with my powers," Paige started, hoping to keep it simple. "These bad people are very similar to monsters."

The young boy looked up and didn't seem to believe. "My mommy said monsters does not exist."

Although Paige was well aware this wasn't her blood child, hearing Peter mention his real mother did some damage to an already downcast Paige. She always wanted to respect both Keith and Liberty's memory, but she had grown so accustomed to Peter as her son. This was one of the challenges with adopting a child. "Your mother may have been right, but there are other monsters that exist. They're called 'demons'. They're really bad and like to hurt good people."

"Like the bad people who hurted my daddy?" Peter asked, returning to the day where he was hiding under his blanket in Henry's car, listening to all the explosive bullets unleash around the place.

"Yes, just like the bad people who hurt your father. These people are..." Paige watched her wording, as she wanted to explain how demons were worst, but in a child's eyes, nothing could be worst than a person who would kill your father. "_just_ as bad. The thing we have to be careful with is that these monsters have powers like me. They can come in here when they want too, so I want to teach you what to do when bad monsters come in here."

"Why would dey come in here?" Peter asked, looking down at his vegetables and moving them around with his spork. "It is not nice."

"You're right, Peter. It's not nice, but demons are bad monsters and they like to hurt people. That's why I have powers, why Aunt Phoebe has powers, and why Aunt Piper has powers."

"Wyatt and Chris too," Peter reminded, unaware Paige purposely left them out.

"Them too, but Aunt Piper is going to teach them to protect people for when they get older. I don't mean to scare you, Peter, but you need to know that demons are really bad. I don't want you to get hurt because I love you so much, so we have to make sure you know how to hide yourself from demons."

"How does I do that?" Peter asked, finally eating his way through the chopped carrots.

"First of all, are you familiar with stop, drop, and roll?" Paige asked.

"Yes!" Peter put down his spork and hopped onto the floor. He lied down on the floor and began to roll back and forth. While rolling he said, "See?"

Paige chuckled, "I see, now get on up. Now, I have a new method for you that you have to follow just as much as you need to follow stop, drop, and roll for fires, okay?"

Peter looked excited to be learning a new precautionary method and nodded rapidly.

"This will be the..." Paige stopped and thought about it. "The... shout, run, and hide method. First you call out my name or anyone else in the house, then you run to the crystals and hide with them."

"What crystals?" Peter asked.

"I'm going to go show you now," Paige answered, rising from her seat. She took his hand and the two slowly began to the stairs.

**(X)**

Paige opened the altar room which was new to Peter as she lied to him and told him it was a locked closet. Although Paige felt ashamed in lying, it was easier to do so instead of telling Peter this is where she kept her potions and tome of evil beings.

"I thought dis was locked," Peter commented.

"Yeah, not really. I told you that because I didn't want you to get in here. This is the room where I keep all my witch stuff," Paige explained, opening the door. "Sorry I had to lie to you, but I just didn't want you going in here and getting hurt. Some of the potions in here are very dangerous, so I ask that you don't touch them, okay?"

"Okay... but what's a potion?" Peter asked, never familiar with the nature of the witches as he was more associated with classic super heroes.

"Come on in and I'll show you," Paige invited, holding the door open for him. Her foster son entered and looked around the room in interest. "For now on, I'll be keeping this door open, but you cannot come in here without permission, okay? It may not be safe for you."

"Okay," Peter responded, inspecting the room for the danger Paige was trying to warn him about. All he saw were small glass vials with different color liquids in each of them, a big dark blue book with dirty pages on some bookstand, two big pots, and other little things like boxes and rocks on strings. Nothing seemed dangerous about these things.

Paige held onto her stomach as she fought back another burp, knowing the orbs would distract and amuse Peter. She couldn't fight it off and quickly put her hand to her mouth and covered it. She burped and her hand shone in a soft blue light and she took a deep breath, successful from hiding it from Peter. She moved over to the table and picked up one of the potions, "Peter, _this_ is a potion. Anything that looks like this, is a potion. Sometimes there might be a couple in the fridge, so make sure to never drink them."

"What's it taste like?" Peter asked.

Paige reflected back to some of the potions she was forced to swallow over the years to allow some effect to occur. "Really bad, Peter. Really bad. Nothing like apple or orange juice. So now we know potions are bad, right?"

"Potions bad," Peter recounted, nodding his head. He turned to the cauldron and asked, "Why does you have cookin' pots in here?"

"These are _cauldrons _and although they are very similar to pots, they aren't used to cook chicken and stuff like that. I use them to cook my potions," Paige explained, moving over to the copper cauldron and tracing her finger around in a circle. "And with these potions, I generally use them to _beat up_ the bad demons." Paige walked over to a box and pulled out two protective crystals and held them up. "_These_ are the crystals I was telling you about. By using five of these, you'll be able to hide yourself from the demon and he won't be able to touch you."

"How does I do it? Puts them anywheres?" Peter asked, confused. He walked over to Paige and took one of the crystals and examined it. He tossed it back and forth and missed it during one catch. The crystal fell to the floor and rolled in-between Paige's feet and Peter bit his lip, guilty. "Sorry," he murmured.

"Don't worry about it, honey. It belongs on the floor," the foster mother informed. "Now what you're going to do next is make a circle out of them, okay?"

Peter nodded, "Okay."

Paige walked over and grabbed the box of crystals and handed them one by one to Peter. He set them all on the floor and began to figure out how he was going to attempt this. First Peter created an awkward triangle, then a square with an out of order crystal, and eventually came to a circle. As he set down the last crystal, white lights ejected from each crystal and formed a protective barrier for anyone inside of it.

Peter jumped back, startled and up at Paige. "What was that?"

The barrier's energy vanished from sight, but its protection remained in the circle it was set in. Paige grinned at her foster son and his first successful time putting up a crystal cage. She hoped that his interest would grow and she could later teach him to make potions and help create spells. "That was a sign that your crystal cage worked."

"Crystal cage?" Peter repeated.

"Yes, that's what it's called. Now, it can be used in two ways. You can either use it to protect yourself from demons or you can trap a demon in it. In other words, you cage them like an animal." Paige knew there was far more information about the cages including how it formed a pentagram, but she figured this was a simpler approach until he was much older. "If you're inside, the demon cannot touch you. If the demon is inside, he still cannot touch you, but always make sure to call for who...?"

"You or anyone else," Peter answered correctly. "Paigey, how bad is dese demons? Is dey like real-ee bad monsters?"

"Some are bad, but others are _really_ bad," Paige answered, walking over to her her Book of Shadows and removed it from its podium. She pushed one chair next to the other with her foot and sat down on one, welcoming a place to sit for Peter on the other. "This here is my Book of Shadows, which is basically a book that teaches me about demons and other monsters."

"Cool," Peter managed to get out, after staring at the golden gemini glyph for a matter of seconds.

"The information in this book has managed to save the lives of all my old family members. It's really magnificent and keeps us safe since we can learn about all the bad guys here," Paige patted on the cover of the Book of Shadows. "Do you wanna look through it with me?"

"Yeah!" Peter exclaimed, more excited than he should be. His excitement concerned Paige that he wasn't understanding the full danger of demons and probably wouldn't until he first encountered one of his own.

Paige opened the great tome that she would later pass down to Peter and his yet to be born twin sisters and showed him the illustrations on each page. While Paige had done some during her spare time in bed, others were passed down from countless ancestors. Paige pointed at several aged pages with illustrations of demon and told him little stories.

Watching from the threshold, Henry listened in on his wife teaching their foster son about demons and he seemed to have an understanding about it. It appeared his rush to come home to assist wasn't needed as much as he thought it was.

**End of Chapter.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this short, but necessary chapter. The magic in this series returns when a magical prankster plays tricks on the house. It's honestly a ridiculous chapter that was fun to write. **


	17. Mischief Manor

**A/Note: **Hey, all. Couple of comments. For those reviewing with registered accounts, I appreciate it but I'd like to be able to get back to you to discuss a couple of things, so maybe you can sign up? I'd appreciate it as I like getting back to my readers.

Quick note on the chapter; this chapter is just for humor and it's the most immature chapter I'll ever write. Also, the enemy in this chapter is purposely annoying, so don't think of him as a poorly written enemy. He's intended to be lame, lol. On that note, please enjoy, I hope you get some laughs, but there is a revelation in here as well.

**Chapter 17- Mischief Manor**

**February 12th, 2007**

The Mitchell-Matthews manor had been quiet since coming into the new year. Henry continued to work, Paige stayed at home watching over her foster son and Billie returned home. No demons had entered the house and Paige figured this to be because she wasn't stirring up any trouble with taking her Wiccan hiatus. The Witchlighter was in her second trimester and looked as if she was carrying an oversized basketball under her shirt.

This morning, she was stuck in bed with swollen feet and serious cramps. Her blood pressure often rose at the frustration of having to stay in bed all day and she only got up once this morning to use the bathroom. She woke up an hour ago to get Henry to work and he was already gone.

"Billie!" She called, wondering what her and Peter were doing.

The young witch made her way home on New Years Eve. Upon leaving the ancient realm, she went to Cameron's apartment to figure out how to get the stone to locate Christy. When New Years Eve hit, Billie wanted to spend some time with her second family and Cameron sent her home. Ever since, she met with Cameron twice a week to work on some ideas to activate it, but weren't successful. Cameron assured her that he'd be working with some of his allies to figure it out and would contact her when they thought of something.

Billie walked in with gray pajama pants and a pink zippered up sweater, protecting her from the cold roaming around the house. Peter was right behind her in his blue footsie pajamas with a coloring book under his arm and a crayon in his hand. "What's up? You want something from downstairs?"

"No, I just wanted to see what you guys were up to," Paige replied. She found herself disliking a lot of things in her time of pregnancy. She grew a great dislike for hoop earrings, her red hair, and being alone. To resolve this, Paige gave her hoop earrings away to Billie and made it seem to be a gesture of kindness. To get rid of her red hair, she bought the necessary supplies and washed the dye out of her hair, returning to her natural brunette state. Now for whenever she was alone, she would call Billie, Henry, or Peter to hang out with her in the room.

"Oh," Billie said, not understanding Paige's technique just yet. "Peter and I were just doing some coloring in my room. Well, Peter was doing some coloring and I was doing some channel surfing." In her time back home, she'd grown really attached to Peter, playing whatever he wanted throughout the week and enjoying his company.

"Well, you can always channel surf in here and Peter can color up here on the bed," Paige suggested. "We can even talk about Christy if you'd like." She was hoping this would get Billie to stay and keep her company.

"No, I won't bore you to death about it," Billie said. "But we should just hang out today. How's the job hunt from your bed going?"

Paige exhaled, glad to have Billie to keep her company. She loved Peter, but it was nice to speak with someone who didn't obsess over Batman. "I've been reading the papers and looking out for something that interests me for the past two months and _nothing_. Being a Witchlighter pays absolutely nothing and my personal funds are really suffering."

"Really?" Billie asked. "I thought you were far from decking out." Billie picked up Peter and sat him down on the bed where he instantly began to color some more. She then sat herself down at the edge of the bed.

Paige nodded, "Nope. I don't want to alert Henry though, but our expenses have really changed since we moved in here. Rent's getting steep, we're buying Peter new clothes every two weeks, plus toys and then we're still setting up the room for the twins."

"I should really get off my _behind_ and get a job too," Billie said. "If you want, I can help pay rent with the money I got from my parents' death and then I can always get some of my tuition out and..."

"No," Paige interrupted. "I wasn't saying this so you could search for a reason to stay out of school. I want you to go back once everything around here settles, but I won't say that I wouldn't be against you getting a job. With that money, you could handle all expenses on potion ingredients, vials and other equipment."

The twenty year old nodded, "Sounds fine by me. I should start saving up for a Christy fund anyway. Hey! Do you think Piper is hiring at P3? I could be a waitress or bartender."

"Billie, you're not twenty-one for another two months," Paige reminded her. "Piper could lose the club if she's caught hiring underage people."

"Oh, come on, she won't get caught," Billie said. "I'd be great at it. I smile a lot, very cheerful, _and_ my hours would be pretty flexible. Piper ran out for years because of demon activity, she'd perfectly understand why I'd have to do the same, so she wouldn't fire me."

"You bring a good point, but first you have to convince her to _hire _you," Paige said. "I'll call her up later and we'll discuss it."

"Thanks!" A gleeful Billie replied. "So, have you and Henry been thinking about names for the girls yet?"

The Witchlighter smiled, "Yeah, we have. I assure you though that we aren't going with the _P_ tradition. We considered it because of little Peter here, but decided that we don't want the girls to feel obligated to carry on the tradition themselves. I'm also doing it as a sisterly favor to Phoebe. I bet once she gets pregnant, she'll carry on the tradition."

"Yeah, I suppose with two girls you'd be cheating her out of two potential names," Billie figured. "Are you sure you're not hungry? I don't have a specialty or anything, but still."

Paige was hungry and too prideful to admit it, but had to lower her pride if she was to feed herself as well as her unborn daughters. "I don't know, can you just maybe put together some of that apple cinnamon oatmeal for me?"

"I can do oatmeal!" Billie exclaimed, hopping off of the bed. "Iced tea? O.J?"

"Orange juice would be perfect," Paige answered. "Thank you, Billie, you're a doll."

The blonde smiled, "See? I'm a very convincing waitress." She turned on her heel and left the bedroom to prepare the breakfast. She and Peter already had bowls of cereal when waking up, so she knew that he was okay.

Paige turned to her foster son and asked, "What are you coloring there, honey?"

Peter continued to color outside the lines with his orange crayon. "I'ms coworing a pumpskin."

"Ooh," Paige soothed. "Is it a scary pumpkin? Or a nice pumpkin?"

Peter giggled, "It's a nice pumpskin. Wanna sees?"

"Only if you're ready to show me," Paige said. He nodded and held up the coloring book to her. The average person would've laughed at how messy the page was, but not Paige. She had really grown into her position as a mother and the little things such as coloring outside the lines were very memorable for her. She knew there would be a point where he would eventually start coloring inside the lines and getting frustrated if he messed up, so she wanted to cherish these moments of innocence. "It's beautiful, Peter. Do you want to put it on the fridge?"

"Wow! Fo' reals?" Peter asked, knowing that a picture being put on a fridge was a big deal. Paige nodded and he said, "If I cowors more pitchas, can theys go ups on the fwidge too?"

Paige chuckled. She loved how innocent his words were at this age, "We'll put as _many_ as we can fit on the fridge."

Excited and on a mission, Peter flipped the page of the coloring book and saw the next picture was of a penguin. The penguin already had some orange on him because the color of the crayon bled through due to the force the one year old applied on it. He didn't care. He was about to color all over it anyway. "Cans I goes gets my cwayons?"

"Of course you can, sweetie."

Peter hopped off of the bed and tottered off to get his box of crayons.

Paige sighed, "Motherhood."

**(X)**

Billie was in the kitchen and placed the bowl of oatmeal on a black tray. She collected a spoon and napkin and placed it in-between the bowl and glass of orange juice. Carefully, she lifted it and steadily walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. When she originally came down, the bottom landing was silent, but as she was making her way to the stairs, the silence was disturbed by chanting that wasn't even being whispered.

"Hello?" Billie called out, walking down the foyer. She looked into the living room where she saw a man in strange attire.

The man responsible for chanting was in orange overalls with a long sleeve checkered shirt of green and yellow. Around his head was a red silk scarf and he finished chanting. An orange ball was now rolling around his hand and he opened his eyes to see Billie. He grinned, "How do you do?"

"Who are you?" Billie asked, confused as to why he didn't launch that glowing ball at her yet. It was even more bizarre that he asked how she was doing.

"You need not worry about my name," he held up the glowing sphere higher and admired it. "You have other problems on your hands." He lunged his arm forward and the orange sphere flew straight at Billie.

The witch immediately dropped the tray to the floor, spilling the contents of oatmeal and orange juice. Billie herself, dropped down and covered her arms over her head. The orange sphere flew past her and embedded itself within the wall, spreading all around the house in different directions.

Billie turned around to see the orange light taking different path lanes around the house and sharply turned back to the man. She heard Paige call for her, but wasn't allowed any time to respond.

"I send you great appreciation for not staining my magic with yours," he said with a sly smile. "It makes it even better for me! Let the fun begin!" He raised his hand and a violet light entombed him, vanishing in seconds.

"What the..." she turned around and stormed up the stairs shouting, "Paige!" She reached the second floor and ran into Paige's bedroom, where she saw Paige holding onto Peter, prepared to orb if trouble came. "We have issues... I think."

"Demon?" Paige asked. Peter now knew about demons, but had never gone under a demonic scare, not until now.

"I _think _so," Billie answered. "He was really strange and even asked how I was doing." She recounted the scene, "And then he shot some orange _thing_ at me, I took cover, but it flew into the walls."

"Into the walls?" Paige asked. "Just great. Hear I am talking about how our expenses are suffering and now we have to pay for wall reconstruction."

Billie nodded, "Oh, don't worry about that. It just spread around in all sorts of different directions. I think I'm going to just go and get the Book to see if I can find him."

"You go do that," Paige agreed, watching as her charge left the room. She turned to her foster son and asked, "How are you doing? You okay?"

His lip was trembling a little since this was the first real demon scare, "No demon?"

"No demon," Paige said, pulling him under her arm and kissing his forehead. "We're safe. You can go back to coloring if you'd like."

Peter hesitated, but trusted her word. He grabbed his coloring book and crayon, but remained close to Paige, slightly worried.

Billie entered with the midnight blue tome under her arm and sat down at the foot of Paige's bed. She put the Book down and began leafing through the pages she was familiar with. "Paige, if you would've seen this guy, you would've been confused as to whether or not you should attack him or hire a tailor. He was an absolute mess." The young witch continued to flip and stopped at a page, slapping it. "And I think I just found him."

"What is it?" Paige asked. "Does it need more than one witch?"

"I don't know, let me see," Billie replied. "It says here that we are dealing with a Prankster."

"A demonic prankster?" Paige asked. "What kind of magic could make something so immature? Were the cosmos thinking one day that they wanted some laughs and just whipped up a being who pranks people?"

Billie shrugged and read on, "Prankster lore states that these beings are neither good nor evil, but are extreme magical nuisances. While they may believe that their tricks are just in good fun, they can also be considered highly dangerous. They tend to target those who aren't in the best position to fight them including lack of power or incapacity. Their pranking can get out of control with the longer their magic is roaming around and may never fully heal all the damage they brought upon the environment they select." She looked up at Paige, "This is great, we can go downstairs and fix the problem before anything happens."

Paige refused to believe it was going to be that easy, "Is that all that's written?"

The witch looked back down at the page and said, "No." She found her spot and read on, "To disable the enchantments, you have to use other magic to counteract anything that has been hexed and when the majority has been covered, a spell to destroy the Prankster must be chanted before more damage is wrought. Upon the vanquish of the Prankster, if done in a timely fashion, everything will return to normal."

"See?" Paige said. "It's not going to be that easy. I don't get it though, are we supposed to just wait around for the house to attack us?"

Billie looked down at the page and informed, "There's one last paragraph. It's labeled 'Prankster Character'."

"I guess it's just the attitude and such about the Prankster," Paige assumed. "Check if it mentions anything about powers."

Billie read for the final time, "Pranksters are generally quick to insult and keep a great distance from their enchanted playgrounds. They know of the pranks occurring and feed off of them. They tend to check in with their victims in the form of a voice as well to toy with the minds further." Billie placed a white ribbon in-between the pages and closed the Book of Shadows, "And that's all that was written. No vanquishing spell listed."

"I'll be able to handle a spell," Paige assured. "It's the least I can do with being stuck under the sheets and all. We just have to keep an eye out of anything _wonky_." Her eyes suspiciously looked around the room and said, "I hope it's not spreading in here."

"I wouldn't be surprised. The Book said that they target people who are incapacitated and he must be picking on you because you're pregnant," Billie realized.

"So I'm being _picked on_ because I'm having babies?" Paige questioned, folding her arms. "That's not exactly an excuse for legitimate bullying."

"Do you think if we set crystals, we'll be safe in here?" Billie stood up, preparing to get the crystals.

"Maybe, but even if so, we have to pay attention to everything that happens around the house," the Witchlighter reminded. "Unless you want to live inside a House of Pranks." Paige removed the covers from on top of her and managed to get to her feet. The bottom of her large belly was hanging out from her white sleeveless shirt. The blue bathrobe warmed her arms and the tail fell when dragged off of the bed.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Billie asked. "I'm capable to get the crystals myself or do you want breakfast because that _kinda _spilled downstairs?"

Paige shook her head, dissapointed at the fate of her breakfast. Even with all this trouble lurking around, she was still hungry. "Alright, well we should go downstairs, clean up the mess, and just keep our eyes open." She looked at Peter, "Honey, do you want to stay up here or come with me?"

"Go with yous," Peter responded, placing down his crayon onto the coloring book. He walked on the bed and held onto Paige's hand as he bounced onto his rear, landing his feet on the floor.

The three walked out into the hallway, unsure of what to expect. Billie took lead and went down the steps, smelling the aroma of the oatmeal making its way to the second floor. She looked back at Paige and said, "I got it, I got it." She reached the landing and ran to go get the mop.

Paige cautiously walked down the steps with her hand dragging against the wall as she allowed Peter to hold onto the railing with his free hand. The two took a step at a time before an orange glow quickly passed through the steps, unnoticed by the coincidental blinking of both Paige and Peter. This was magic working its way in unnoticed as it prepared to strike.

The stairs in one swift motion narrowed and became flat, causing Paige and Peter to start skidding down like a slope. Before they could fall on their backs, orbs completely enveloped them and saved them from an unfortunate fall. The orbs navigated through the stair railing and grew back in size, forming the sparkling silhouettes of both Peter and Paige.

As the orbs vanished, Paige turned and saw a slope replacing her stairs and let go of Peter's hand to place both of hers on her face. "Oh, my God." She looked down at Peter and said, "I bet you're thinking you're going to be sliding down this thing, aren't you?"

Peter laughed, guilty. "Cans I?"

"Eh," Paige started, wanting to tell him 'no' desperately, "Maybe if we get you a helmet... some elbow pads... kneepads... and a balloon-like suit." She turned away and shouted, "Billie!"

The blonde ran in from the kitchen with the mop in her hand. "What happened?"

"My house is turning into a playground, that's what happened!" Paige exclaimed, pointing at the slope. "We could've died if it wasn't for orbing. Got any spells to make a staircase turn _back_ into a staircase?"

"Yeah, I definitely don't," Billie stated. "Let me clean this mess first and then we can see how to go about it." Billie walked past Paige and began to clean the oatmeal from the floor with the drenched mop. She felt a tingle and saw an orange glow flash on the mop and said, "What the...?"

The mop snapped back and shifted itself between Billie's legs and began to lift into the air. "Uh... Paige?"

The Witchlighter and her foster son turned around and saw Billie ascending higher. "Oh dear."

"How do I get down?" A frightened Billie asked. She tried to jump off, but the mop mystically glued her hands to it. She looked up to see she was closing in on the ceiling and screamed as she steered the broom down, flying around the foyer of the house. She lost control at that moment as well, flying through the living room and appearing again in the foyer seconds later.

Paige heard Peter laughing hysterically with the occasional _Ooh_ and _Aah_, but she shook her head at what she was seeing. The stairs pranked Paige and Peter and the mop was playing tricks on Billie. "It's not even a broom! What kind of moron is this guy?"

_I'm not a moron. Must you insult_?

The Witchlighter looked around for the voice and remembered the Book saying that he kept his distance. "How do I get her down?" Billie's screams made it hard for her to hear herself, let alone a voice with no face. The voice never replied and she shouted at Billie, "Just steer down!"

Billie whizzed by and pulled back on the mop as if they were breaks, but ended up backflipping. "I can't! I'll... crash!" The witch continued to cycle around in a circle, her blonde hair flapping around, and her screams continued.

Paige looked around, searching for a solution. She held out her hand and shouted, "Couch pillows!" The four brown pillows from the couch appeared in separate orb clouds, but collected themselves in one area on the floor of the foyer. "Mop!"

The mop orbed out from under Billie and the young witch flipped onto her back against the safety of pillows. Her chest was panting violently because of the excitement of flying and she didn't bother getting up, collecting her breath.

Paige and Peter walked over to Billie and Paige asked, "Are you okay? I'd offer you water but I don't want the fridge biting me." She placed her hands on her waist, "How would we go about fixing sliding stairs and a defective mop?" She looked down at the puddle of oatmeal, shattered glass and tray, "Not to mention the mess on the floor."

Billie was still on the floor and finally sat up. Her blonde hair was frizzy and covering her eyes. With a quick brush with her hand, Billie moved the hair out of her face and said, "As scary as that was, it was such a _rush_."

"Billie, you're an insult to stereotypical witches," Paige commented. "You had absolutely no control over that_ mop_. You won't be getting your permit to drive that thing anytime soon, so get on up and let's figure this out."

Billie stood up and eyed the oatmeal mess still on the floor, "I think it'd be okay if you just orbed it away now. Even if the Elders wanted to get on your back because of it, this excuse would hold up in court."

The Witchlighter nodded, choosing not to devote more time to this. "Mess!" Paige exclaimed with a simple wave of the arm, mentally sending the oatmeal and broken glass to the garbage and the tray to the kitchen counter. "Alright, I'm going to orb back upstairs and just stick with the Book because, honestly? This house scares me right now. You want a ride up?"

Billie nodded and held Peter's hand, as did Paige. The three vanished in orbs and reappeared in Paige's bedroom.

Paige sat down, feeling tired and pulled the Book closer to her. "I'm going to see if I can find some undo spell or something."

"If there isn't, maybe we can use some magical creatures to help us. Maybe summon a leprechaun to cast some good luck on this place to negate the prank magic," Billie suggested.

Paige began to flip through the tome and said, "While that might make some sense, we can't ask a leprechaun to throw gold at a mop that thinks it's a broom. But maybe I can ask some dwarves to fix the stairs considering they carry around appliances of man."

"Dwarves?" Billie asked. "I never thought I'd ever meet a dwarf in my life as a witch."

"Yeah, they're pretty strange people, but they are experts in this kind of stuff," Paige explained. "I'll see if I can find a spell to summon them."

"If you can't, I can always grab a potion and teleport to the magical realm," Billie said.

Paige continued to flip and landed on their page, slapping it. "Got it."

Billie looked over her shoulder and read, "The Ancestors of the Seven Dwarves, best known for preserving the Dead..." she skimmed, muttering, "Yadda, yadda, oh! It mentions they have talents in reconstructing." She looked further past the illustration of seven _little people_ lined up with their names under each dwarf in a small script font. "No calling card listed in here though."

"Alright, well, does your offer still stand?"

"Yeah, I'll just go and get dressed," Billie said, walking out of the room.

Paige turned to her foster son and just watched as he continued to color his penguin. The beak was blue and the large belly was currently green. She knew that Peter knew the true colors of a penguin, but was just being creative. "You wanna watch t.v, Peter?"

Peter looked up at her and thought about it. He didn't like being distracted, but couldn't help it in his youth. "Um... yeah... wait, no!" His mind was wracked with possibilities. "Okay."

Paige chuckled, "So, yes or no?"

"Yeah!" Peter replied, hiding his laughter behind his hands.

Paige reached for the remote and turned on the television with one click. The news was on and the headline was "Witches in San Francisco". Paige's eyes widened and she put up the volume.

"This disturbing news, is in fact, true," the anchor reported. "Witches are living amongst us. One gives advice for a living, the other serves liquor which are speculated to be magical potions, and the other is jobless! The Halliwell sisters use their powers for pure evil and..." the anchor stopped and grinned. He waved at the camera and said, "Fooled you, Paige!"

The anchor morphed into the Prankster and the newsroom changed into a shadowy room with orange strobe lights. "How's it hanging, Paigester? Your house treating you right?"

"So it's you," Paige said. "You get your jollies off of bugging people?"

The Prankster laughed and held his stomach, clearly exaggerating, "Why, yes I do. Did you love that mop spectacle back there? I thought that was pretty funny." He shifted his glance to Peter and moved closer to the screen, "What about you, Peter? Did you find it funny?"

"Ye-"

"Don't talk to him, Peter," Paige interrupted. "He's a bad man."

Peter instantly showed fear and crawled into Paige's arms. He felt safe, aware that she could teleport him away if any trouble came.

"I'm not a bad man! I'm very good, Peter! I do really _cool_ magic!"

Paige clicked the _off_ button on the remote, but the television stayed on. "Why isn't it turning off?"

"Because I don't want _it_ to turn off!" The Prankster shouted, his saliva splattering on his camera.

Billie ran into the bedroom with the only difference in her attire being jeans as she didn't give herself enough time to change. She held a potion in her hand and she looked around for the Prankster. "I hear him. Where is he?"

Paige pointed to the television and said, "Throw the potion!"

The blonde looked back at Paige, unsure if this was what she actually wanted. Seeing that Paige was serious, she hurled the potion at the television, blowing up the screen.

Paige shielded Peter with her body, afraid of any glass flying their way, but they were all safe. "Man, that demon really runs his mouth."

"Yeah, I hate trash talking demons," Billie commented. "Does that make me a hypocrite since I tend to run at the mouth as well?"

"Technically no, because you're not a _demon_," Paige replied. "You really need to get going to find some dwarves. Just teleport..."

"I know, I know," Billie interrupted, pulling a potion out of her potions purse. "I'll jump from realm to realm until I get word of where they're at." Her potions were designed to not only teleport, but bring herself to people she was close with. That unfortunately didn't apply here.

"If you run into any trouble, call me," Paige said.

"Don't worry about me," Billie said, dropping the potion at her feet. A cloud of smoke entombed her and she vanished along with the smoke.

"I hope she's going to be okay," Paige said to Peter.

**(X)**

A column of smoke rose into a pitch black room. The smoke dispersed in seconds and Billie stood there, curious. She walked straight, strangely hearing her sneakers create an echo with each step. "Hello?" Billie called out, still trying to see past the darkness. "Is anyone here?"

The witch found her way into her potions purse and pulled out a vial. She just hoped it was the right potion to defend herself. She blindly walked further and called out again, "Is anyone out there?"

"Billie... Billie... Billie!" A harsh whisper repeated. The source couldn't be found, but it caused Billie to frequently turn around as it came from different directions.

"Who's out there?" Billie shouted.

A dim light began to flicker and this relieved Billie. This one small light brought her comfort in this mass of darkness, but she wasn't so blind anymore. The flicker ended, but the light continued to grow in size. The intensity of the light began to blind Billie once again except in a different manner. What was once complete darkness was now overwhelming light.

She covered her eyes with her forearm and shouted, "What's going on?" The wave of light washed over Billie and she felt the light's heat cover the bare parts of her body. A cool wind passed and she heard a whimper. Billie braved the great light and it was still there, but no longer blinding her. The dominating effect passed for some strange reason.

What she did see was a little girl in a gray dress with dark brown hair. She was hugging her knees and rocking back and forth, whimpering louder. Her back was to the witch who was slowly creeping up behind her.

"She's definitely not a dwarf," Billie quietly commented, crouching down behind her. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm scared," a familiar voice said.

"Christy?" Billie asked, recognizing the voice immediately and placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Find me," she whispered.

Billie turned the little girl around and a burnt face bubbled on little Christy's face. Billie fell onto her back in shock as Christy rose to her feet.

Christy pointed her finger at Billie and her voice changed; innocence was replaced with a deep demonic voice. Her brown hair ignited and the flames seemed to dance as she snarled at Billie, "You killed me! Then you just... let it go! Don't look for me if you're going to kill me again, you miserable bitch!"

The witch crept backwards, still on the floor, and dragged her body away from the terrible illusion. The sound of swarming particles comforted Billie as it closed in on her.

Cameron Hawke teleported in and instantly released a neon blue energy ball at 'Christy'. The attack crashed into the little girl's body and she fully ignited in flames with echoing screams. The flames quickly blew her up, leaving a scorch mark in the pure white room and gave Billie a burning reminder of the night she killed her sister.

The mercenary approached Billie with an extended hand, "Are you alright?"

Billie clasped his hand, allowing him to pull her up with assistance of her own. "Not really, I was aiming to enter a different realm to find some dwarves and I ended up here."

"Why are you looking for dwarves?" Cameron asked, confused that people still called upon the services of the seven dwarves.

"Our house has been infected by some Prankster pest," Billie answered. "We need them to fix our stairs before Paige's son starts getting some crazy ideas."

Cameron processed this, "He must've jinxed your potion and made you land here. Pranksters know about what's going on in the lives of their targets and the search for your sister is apparently an overwhelming thought." He looked around the room, maintaining its white glow, but in a softer tone, and placed his hand on Billie's shoulder. "It's not safe to discuss what I have to talk about with you here."

Their bodies dissolved into black particles and began to fly up into the air, before rippling in shimmers and leaving the imaginary realm.

**(X)**

The particles shimmered into another realm and continued to flow through the air in their normal fashion. They spun around in a twister-like fashion and Cameron and Billie materialized. Billie immediately saw a beautiful field with blades of grass flowing with the wind and flowers in full blossom. The trees didn't seem to have a leaf fallen out of place and the wind brushed the branches around as well. She looked up to the clear blue sky that gave her a feeling that his realm never saw darkness.

"Wow," Billie said, stunned. "This place is beautiful."

Cameron nodded, "Yeah, I guess you can say that. This is the other realm where the magical folk generally live."

"Where are the dwarves?" Billie asked, then stated, "I can't see them. Or anyone for that matter."

"This is just the central peak for this realm. If you just aim to teleport in here, you still have to walk around and find the opening for the different realms. This is just the universal magical realm, but there are other pocket realms existing within it," Cameron explained. "I know where I can find you some dwarves."

He began to walk off and Billie trailed after, "Can't we just _spin_ around and get there faster?"

"We could do that, but it wouldn't give me the opportunity to tell you about the latest in Christy news," Cameron answered, still walking ahead of her.

Billie jogged ahead of him and began to walk backwards, "Wait... what do you know?"

"I think you should..." Cameron started, but stopped as Billie tripped over a small boulder and landed on her back. "... watch the path ahead of you."

**(X)**

Henry parked his company car outside his house in the driveway and was making his way to the stairs that lead into the house. He walked up the few steps and picked up the newspaper, knowing Paige would want it to continue her job hunting. He tucked it under his arm and walked down the path towards the white house. He approached the door and put his key in, hearing the door unlock. He turned the knob and pushed, but nothing happened.

He turned again, pushing the door harder with the assistance of his shoulder to no success of opening it. "What the hell?" He banged on the door, then pulled out his phone. He called Paige's phone and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting for a response.

"Henry?" Paige asked on the line.

"Yeah, Paige, it's me," Henry replied. "Look, I'm having some trouble getting into the house. I keep turning the knob and I can't get in."

"Yeah, we're having some technical difficulties," Paige explained. "Uh, let me think... um, try pulling the door."

"Pulling the door?" Henry asked. "Paige, I'm _outside_, I don't see how pulling a door I'm supposed to be pushing is going to do me any good." He didn't even attempt it. Her suggestion was ridiculous.

"Henry, would you just listen to me? The house is absolutely mental right now and if you would just _pull_ the door and come inside, we could talk about this further," Paige explained.

"Okay, I'll do it, but I'm going to feel _really _stupid doing it," Henry said, holding the phone on his shoulder as he clasped his hand around the knob once more. He turned it and pulled the knob, opening the door in the same manner it should open had he been able to push it. He tried to push the door closed once inside, but it remained in its spot. He squinted in curiosity and pulled the door, watching it push itself closed.

The mortal closed his phone and tucked it into his pocket, "Paige?!" He walked towards the stairs, gaining pace and ready to jog up to ask his wife what was going on. He began to move so fast that he walked past the pillows on the floor and didn't even see the mop that was hovering in the living room. He took a hold of the railing and ran up where the stairs were supposed to be. Not realizing a slope replaced the steps, Henry slid back down and crashed into the wall, tumbling down back to the floor. He groaned on the floor, remaining on his back.

Having heard the crash, Paige and Peter left the bedroom and were now watching from the top flight. "Oh, my God, Henry! Are you alright?"

"I think I'm going to just sit here for a minute and figure out what the hell just happened," Henry commented, not censoring his language in frustration.

Peter wasn't so much concerned for his foster father, but craving to slide down the slope. He looked up at Paige and slowly crept closer to the slope and sat down on the floor. With one quick push, he began to slide down to Paige's late amazement.

Scared that he was going to slam into the wall and hurt himself, Paige quickly waved her arm at the pillows on the floor and shouted, "Pillows!" The pile of pillows together orbed off of the floor and materialized against the wall, which Peter safely bumped into and then rolled onto Henry's legs.

The one year old laughed hysterically, still reeling from the fun, and crawled off of Henry's legs.

Henry sat up, smiling at Peter and back up at Paige, "I thought we made an agreement that we would always talk about renovating the house. I might be old fashioned, but I always found stairs easier to go up of." He rose to his feet and rubbed his back, "I think I'll just go back out and buy some mountain climbing equipment."

Paige rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She quickly orbed out and reappeared on the bottom floor, arms still folded. "We are living in a mad house. Some magical prankster is just playing games with us and the house is now a playground."

"Is that why I had to pull a door I was supposed to be pushing?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, but that trick was new to me. You lucked out though; the stairs tried to kill Peter and myself and a mop was touring around the house with Billie on it," Paige informed.

"A flying mop?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, it's an _insane_ mop that I believe has the aspiration to be a flying broom," Paige explained. "I think we'll take it therapy when this is all over." She exhaled and spotted the mop hovering in the living room. She chose to ignore it and said to Henry, "I sent Billie out to get some reinforcements to handle the stairs." The Witchlighter rubbed her arms and said, "It's getting kinda chilly in here."

"I'll go and turn on the fireplace," Henry offered.

"Thanks. I'm going to see if the kitchen window is open," Paige said, walking off.

Henry looked down and grinned at Peter, who was following him on his knees. They both entered the living room and the flying mop was hanging out in the corner away from Henry's sight. The mortal made sure that Peter was a good distance away before turning a trigger and setting the manual fireplace on. Flames rose behind the black fence and soon, the heat would flow around the manor.

**(X)**

Paige was standing in her kitchen with a palm to her cheek. She continued to stare out of the window at her now dead garden. She lowered her hand and mumbled, "You weren't dead earlier, which can only mean..." She rolled her eyes and turned her back to the window, leaning against the sink. "I gotta call me some Wood Nymphs."

**(X)**

Billie and Cameron continued to walk through the large field, searching the magical realm for the dwarves. The witch made sure to step over all stones after the last incident, but stopped to admire flowers every now and then, forgetting the urgency of the house.

"So who exactly have you been working with to figure out all you can about these stones?" Billie asked.

"Phoenixes may all be mercenaries, but we all have different talents. Some are sneakier than others, some have explored enough about magic to be of great resource, and a few have gone around the world studying different functions of artifacts," Cameron explained. "And they've come into a new theory."

"Which would be...?"

"That there is more to you than meets the eye," Cameron said.

Billie stopped in her tracks, folding her arms, "Hold up. Am I being accused of something?"

"Don't always jump to conclusions," the mercenary replied, stopping in his tracks as well. "They're just thinking that you're maybe more than just a witch."

"More than a _witch_?" Billie asked. "What else would I be?"

"A sorceress," Cameron stated.

The witch's blue eyes widened. A sorceress? She lived this past year accepting her heritage of witchcraft, but now there were suspected trails of sorcery? "What made you guys think that?"

"A few things actually; it never really added up on why you were such a threat that the Triad would want to recruit you and your sister. Let's face it, did you ever think that the Charmed Ones' final battle would be against a witch with latent genes and her sister?"

"No. Had I known them longer, I would've thought they'd have to fight a demon," Billie said.

"It turns out that their last battle was supposed to have been with the demon Zankou until you received your powers. That alone could've launched the Triad's plan and with the initiation of you at the manor, it appeared you infiltrated their lives," Cameron commented, seeing that Billie was about to reply back. "And I know that you were just a curious mind, I know, but this was all set into motion by the Triad."

"So I have to thank them for meeting the sisters? Kinda hard considering that they're dead now," Billie replied.

"Let's just hope their death sticks this time," the Phoenix stated. "The point is, we're assuming that the Triad didn't just pick two ordinary sisters, but sisters special in their own way. Christy is a witch with firestarter abilities and that's rare in itself and you... everyone assumed that just because you have the power of projection that you were to be labeled as an Ultimate Power. It appears that you are more than just a witch."

"Wait... now, _you_ need to stop jumping to conclusions," Billie said. "Who's to say that I'm automatically a sorceress just because you guys are putting together pieces to a puzzle? I think you either find me real proof on this matter and while you're at it, explain to me on why that would even matter with Christy."

"It would matter with Christy because it might take an established sorceress to track her," Cameron said. "This would mean that we would have to put you through trials to see if you are a sorceress because if you aren't... you may never find your sister. At least not with the assistance of the stone."

"What? Look, I'm sure it would be kick ass and all to be a sorceress, I'm sure it's _loads_ of fun, but how come Christy is lost forever if I'm not a sorceress?" Billie began to slowly pace away, trying to collect her thoughts and find some sense in this.

Cameron followed and said, "It takes a sorcerer to track the firestarters and we're assuming they imbue some sorcery into the tracking stone. But, since we decimated all those sorcerers in the castle after destroying that one Fire Lord, our last hope is your bond with her."

Billie continued to walk and slid her hands into her back pockets, "Well, that's just _good_ news to an already strange day."

"I'm sorry I had to be this bearer of bad news," Cameron said.

"Maybe it's not completely bad news. At least it gives me something to do and I can ask Paige to check with the Elders if they know anything about this," Billie replied, honestly feeling low. "I don't mean to be aggressive towards you, I just..."

"Need your sister," Cameron finished. "Well, that'll be a problem for later on. You gotta help your Whitelighter now."

"Paige is more than my Whitelighter," Billie stated. "But, yeah, I do need to help her."

Cameron stopped and pointed towards a glowing brown vortex. "If you enter there, you'll find those seven different personalities in a cabin. If they give you any problems, just call out to me."

"Call out to you? Like I would a Whitelighter? How?" Billie asked.

"I'll just be listening out," he stated before turning on his heel, exploding into a mass of black particles that flew away from Billie.

"Thanks," she whispered, charging towards the brown vortex and walking through it.

**(X)**

"Henry, watch out!" Paige shouted in the foyer.

Moments ago, Peter's drawing from his coloring book came to life and a penguin with a green belly with random orange dots, blue beak, royal blue eyes and coral fins was chasing Paige's husband.

"Paige, stop that damn penguin!" Henry shouted, diving over the couch to avoid the penguin's rapid fin.

The Witchlighter waved her hand and shouted, "Penguin!" The oddly colored animal orbed out from sight and reappeared in the basement. "Henry, he's in the basement now. You should probably go lock the door."

Henry rose from the other side of the couch, panting. "Lock the door, Paige? He has _fins_! He won't be able to turn the knob!" He fully rose and rubbed his face in frustration.

"Well, we also thought that penguins couldn't run at the speed that one was running and that theory was proven wrong. I'm fine with a chasing penguin as he seems to like you out of the rest of us," Paige playfully replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe we can keep him as a pet."

"Cans we? Cans we?" Peter begged, jumping up and down with his coloring book against his chest.

Henry walked around the couch and through the foyer, "Sorry, buddy, but your little friend is going back into coloring book he came from." The mortal walked through the dining room, intent on locking the basement door.

"This is just getting ridiculous," Paige commented. "Peter, do you want to stay down here with Henny?"

All Peter could think about was the penguin. That was enough to make him want to stay downstairs. "Yes."

Paige then felt the wandering cold run through her robe and she shivered. She looked down at Peter and asked, "Are you cold, honey?"

"No," he replied. He was still excited from the penguin and all the jumping around kept him warm.

"I thought I asked Henry to warm this place up," she said, walking into the living room and saw the fire burning within the fireplace. The closer she got, the colder she got. "What the...?" She opened the gates and a great blast of cold air was released and she closed the gates. She muttered, "And now the furnace is giving off cold fire. That's just _wonderful_."

**(X)**

In a rather large cabin, Billie entered and stood in front of the door, staring at the strangest sight she's ever seen. Seven dwarf-sized men were present in the room and moving to their own accord. These were the ancestors of the Seven Dwarves. All seven of them were in brown tunics with matching leather boots, but there were some differences that helped make it easier to put them apart.

In a yellow cone shaped hat was Happy. He was off in the corner of the room, not feeling bad that he wasn't resting under the window every night. Nothing could ever really bring him down and he was currently holding up a red jewel to his eye, inspecting it. This was his latest prized possession.

A sneeze caught the witch's attention and it was none other than Sneezy. His nose was the reddest thing on his pale face and he simply wiped the mucus from under his nose with his sleeve.

The youngest dwarf threw off his brown hat and revealed his hairless head. Dopey didn't have any facial hair and just plopped onto his bed, staring up at a light flying around on the ceiling.

Doc's bed was next to Dopey and he noticed that Dopey's eyes followed wherever the light of his flashlight went. The intellectual dwarf of the group continued to amuse himself with this act.

One dwarf was under his brown covers, snoring away. It was only a quarter past three, but Sleepy didn't care. Any time was sleeping time.

Bashful was currently at the open window speaking with an elfin nanny he had a crush on. It was obvious with what seemed to be eternal blushing printed amongst his cheeks. When he felt a lot of blood rushing to his face, he would cover his face with a black scarf and never gave a reason for it. The others still found it amazing that he even had the courage to speak to the elf.

One last dwarf remained and he was currently standing in front of Billie, who hadn't even noticed him. She was too busy looking over him and trying to find the seventh dwarf. Grumpy had a full beard on his face and short black hair. His cheeks turned a rosy red with frustration and shouted, "Hey! Blondie!? Yoo-hoo! Whatcha doing in here?"

All the dwarves turned to look at Billie. Happy was no longer eyeing his jewel, Doc and Dopey stopped looking at the light, the elf ran away due to fear of Grumpy's wrath, and Sleepy woke up. They all began to slowly totter behind Grumpy, who's arms were folded.

"So what is it?" Grumpy asked again.

"I need some help and I was hoping you guys could give it to me," Billie replied.

"We don't work for free, toots! What do you have in mind for payment for me and my men?" Grumpy greedily asked.

"I was actually hoping this one could be on the house," Billie reluctantly said. She saw Grumpy become even more annoyed and said, "My friend is Paige Matthews and her house is under attack by some Prankster. We were hoping you and your crew could help us out with negating some of the effects."

"I think we can arrange something to help you with your dilemma for a Charmed One," Doc supposed. "Don't mind my friend here, he's just hoping to be reimbursed for some gnomes breaking his tractor."

"That's not what I'm mad about you little-"

"Who are you calling 'little'? You're little!" Doc shouted back, the only dwarf courageous enough to retaliate Grumpy's comments.

Billie sighed and lowered her head. She started off her day playing with Peter and now she was watching dwarves fight. It was going down as one of the strangest days.

**(X)**

Paige sat on her bed with the the Book of Shadows resting in front of her. She was flipping through the pages and muttered to herself, "I got Billie chasing after dwarves and I need some Wood Nymphs." She found the page she was looking for and admired the beautiful illustration of a Wood Nymph. On the left side of the page was a blonde Nymph with a wreath over her hair and wrapped around her shoulders was a thick vine with daisies on it. The daisy petals were also tied into her short green dress, drawn perfectly.

On the right side of the page was information on Wood Nymphs including their purpose, powers, and a spell to summon them, all written in a dark green ink. Paige ran her finger under the words as she recognized the spell wouldn't work with the way it was worded, since Paige wasn't in the forest. She pulled out her pen and pad from the drawer beside her and reworded the spell to her advantage and chanted.

_Nature's maidens, I call on thee,_

_With natural elements to welcome three deities,_

_Wander away from your personal groves,_

_As I invite you to help restore my home._

Three windy columns appeared at the foot of Paige's bed and the air passed by Paige and blew her brown hair back. She welcomed the gentle breeze, despite freezing downstairs. Leaves began to spiral around the columns and ultimately formed three Wood Nymphs, each with a different hair color. They immediately looked around their surroundings.

"Oh my!" The redhead exclaimed, placing her hands to her rosy cheeks. "This isn't our environ-"

"I know, I know," Paige interrupted, placing down her pen and pad. "I will orb you three off back to your home grounds as soon as you do me the favor of fixing my garden."

"What has gone wrong?" The brunette sweetly asked, deep concern sketched across her face.

"Some Prankster dude killed it. He just flat out murdered my garden for laughs. He didn't even think twice before doing so," Paige exaggerated, pressing the issue.

"Oh no!" The three Nymphs shouted in unison.

"Well, in respect for your earthly sanctuary, we will reverse this _demonly_ deed," the blonde informed, frolicking out the bedroom door with her sisters following.

"I hope the neighbors don't see this," Paige commented, returning to the Book of Shadows. "Now where is Billie with those damn dwarves?"

**(X)**

A cloud of smoke rose in the foyer and Billie appeared, just missing the Wood Nymphs by seconds. She turned around and saw a spiraling brown vortex appear behind her and the seven dwarves hopped out. The vortex closed behind them.

The eight presences looked around the room and saw the mop whiz by, silverware dancing on the dinner table, and the scented candles were cackling with fireworks on the wicker.

"Alright, you guys need to get to working," Billie instructed. "Before you touch those stairs, I need to climb up them." The witch stepped on the slope and pulled herself up with the help of the stair railing. Once she made it to the top, she held up her thumb and said, "You're good to go."

"Okay, so here's the plan, fellas," Grumpy started, turning towards his six men. "We'll pull this _slide_ apart with our picks and..."

Henry walked into the foyer, holding Peter's hand. He just stared at the now silent dwarves and asked, "You wouldn't happen to be demons, would you? I just have to say that if you are, I'm going to have to ask you to come back another day," he looked around the house and rolled his eyes at the flying mop. "Today is just not a good day."

"Do we look like demons?!" Grumpy shouted. "Do you really think demons would've picked up and left just because you _asked_?! Now, if you haven't guessed by now, we're just little people helpin' out ya wife here! We're not _psychatrist_..."

"_Psychiatrists_," Doc corrected, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Whatever," Grumpy replied. "Now do ya want us to work on these stairs or what?!"

"I suppose," Henry said. "So what are you guys? Elves?"

Grumpy's eyes widened and he hurled his arm back with his pick in possession. Upset by nature, he threw it at the mortal and Henry quickly ducked. The pick continued to soar through the air and landed into the table. The spike drilled itself through and stood there.

"What did I say?" Henry asked, rising back to his full stance with Peter in his arms. He was hoping the little guy wouldn't attack with his foster son in his possession.

"You messed with the wrong guy!" Grumpy shouted, pointing at Henry.

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you. You gotta forgive me because..." Henry paused to think for a logical excuse. "... because I'm a no good stinkin' mortal." He was hoping that by insulting himself, he would gain forgiveness from Grumpy.

"He's just a mortal," Doc reminded to Grumpy. "He doesn't know any better."

"Fine!" Grumpy shouted. "Another _small_ word out of you and we're going to go at it!" He turned away and tottered over to the steps.

Henry looked at Peter, slightly frightened by Grumpy. "How about we just go back into the kitchen?" He didn't wait for an answer and just turned away, letting the dwarves work. "That penguin is looking a lot better now."

**(X)**

"... so I met with Cameron and he pointed me out to the right direction."

"Glad to know he's still there to help you," Paige said. "That demon Christy sequence must've been scary."

"Imagine Prue rising from the dead with fire for hair and a demonic voice," Billie said. "It's not pretty."

"Did he say anything regarding Christy?" Paige asked, flipping through her tome.

"He actually did, but that can all wait until this is over," Billie said. "So I got the dwarves working downstairs, you got nymphs in the garden, and what other problems do we have? Who do we call on next?"

Paige stopped at a page. "We need some fairies." She showed Billie the page which had an illustration of a fairy in a pink dress and she appeared to have been drawn as a fairy who was currently gliding.

Billie turned the tome to her direction and read the spell out. "Okay, but judging by the way the spell is worded, we would have to chant this at midnight. If we wait that long, we may not be able to reverse the Prankster's magic."

"That's why we have the magnificent ability to _reword_ spells to our advantage," Paige said, grabbing her pad and pen once again for the same purpose. "I wasn't exactly orbing into the forest to get some nymphs now."

As Paige rewrote the spell, Billie read on and read at the bottom something significant at the bottom of the page. "Wow, Prue wrote this spell."

Paige nodded. "Yeah, Piper showed me a ton of spells that Prue personally wrote one night. This one is a tad _rhymey_, but it apparently did the trick. I altered that spell for my own gain so I'd be able to see the fairies as well."

"Yeah, I chanted one last year as well with Christy," Billie said. "Some leprechaun suggested we do so when he wanted us to save all the members of the magical community from you guys." Paige stopped to stare at Billie. "Yeah, they were wrong, but I got something good out of it. How do we summon the fairy now?"

Paige looked back down at her pad and continued to write. Seconds later, she looked up and said, "With this spell. It's been tweaked." She held it to eye level and chanted:

_Two together stand alone,_

_And request the unseen to be shown,_

_In innocence we search the skies,_

_Reveal yourself to our established eyes._

The fairy on the illustration of the page decided to answer the call and let the conjuring magic bring her to life. She glided above with a glittery trail following after her. She just hovered over the Book of Shadows as a new image replaced the empty space and she smiled, swaying back and forth.

"Hi," Paige greeted. "I kinda need your help with fixing my house. There are several problems that I think some of your very special dust will be able to help."

The fairy nodded rapidly and spoke in her very tiny voice, which could only be heard by magical ears.

Paige understood and said, "Well, the problem would be a flying mop, a furnace producing cold fire, and plenty of other things. So if you see anything out of the ordinary, could you please just work your magic as soon as possible? Maybe you could even get some of your friends to help out."

The fairy nodded and she flew out of the room at rapid speed on a mission.

Paige threw the pad on the bed and breathed in deeply. "This is a very active day."

"Be happy that you get to do it in bed," Billie commented. "I'm going to go and make sure that everything is going okay. I would suggest that you have a Prankster vanquishing spell ready because with the assistance we have now, we might be able to nail him in a little bit."

"Aren't you just stepping up as the witch who has to carry around the weight here?" Paige joked. "I'm proud at how far you've come, Billie."

"Don't mention,. I'm just keeping your lead witch seat warm until you're ready to take it back," Billie smirked, exiting the bedroom.

**(X)**

Approximately twenty minutes later, Billie walked into Paige's bedroom with a grin spread across her face. "Your house is almost as good as new."

"Really?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, I was actually able to _walk_ up the stairs. Pretty amazing work the dwarves did, although they did tag team with the fairies," Billie commented. "Now we just have to make sure it sticks and that's where you come in."

"I got a spell ready," Paige said, shifting the pillow behind her back. "And I've worded it so it can strike the Prankster wherever he is."

"Really? How?" Billie asked.

"I was looking through the Book of Shadows and discovered these beings known as the Warriors of the Wind," Paige started. "They are these beings that travel through the winds and can be called upon to destroy forces of Evil with their otherworldly abilities and their talent to track demons." The Witchlighter pointed to the page and the full description was there with simple lines forming what appeared to be windy figures.

"I'll go and tell the others that they can start packing up and leaving," Billie said and left the room.

Paige held up the notepad and smiled. "Bye, bye, Prankster." And with that, she chanted:

_Warriors of the Winds, Hear these words,_

_Travel around with the flight of a bird,_

_Seek out the one who's pranks disrupt,_

_Reverse all the symptoms and make him erupt!_

A gentle breeze passed by Paige and she felt it grow in intensity. The window was closed, but she already summoned upon the great warriors and a final breeze passed by Paige as they flew away to do their work.

**(X)**

The Prankster was reading a small purple book with yellow pages, planning his next prank. He began to hear harsh whispers enter his mind.

_... Seek out the one who's pranks disrupt,_

_Reverse the symptoms and make him erupt!_

He turned around, trying to find the voice without realizing it was actually in his head. A violent wind entered the room and he dropped his book of pranks on the floor. The wind continued to encircle him and he moronically tried to slap it away from him. He made an attempt to run, but he only tripped on a rubber toy left on the floor. His back slammed into the marble floor and he tried to crawl away.

The wind then shaped into three figures that were constructed of collected wind. One possessed a long sword, the other wielded two daggers, and the final one held no weapons. The two with blades began to stab the Prankster with their windy, but deadly weapons as the other flew into his screaming mouth in a funnel of wind.

The Prankster held his chest in great pain, regretting all the trouble he caused on Paige's house. He truly messed with the wrong witch. He gasped for air as the invading warrior was killing him from the inside. In one sharp second, the Prankster's eyes bulged as his body was enveloped in a gleaming silver light.

"Noooo!"

The beautiful silver light parted and exploded into blasts of wind, destroying the Prankster.

The Warriors of the Winds' job was done and they quickly dispersed after protecting Innocents from another foul evil...

**(X)**

_"Noooo!"_

Paige recognized the screams to have come from the Prankster's. If he wasn't dead now, he'd certainly be dead in a matter of seconds. A quick wind passed by Paige, confirming her thoughts and she exhaled. "Thank you."

She put down the pad and closed her Book of Shadows. She stared at the gemini glyph on the cover and this made her think of the two daughters growing inside her. Although they found her large belly to be their current home, when the time came for them to be born, they'd have a safe house to grow up in.

**(X)**

It was evening when Paige slowly walked into the living room with a newspaper under her arm and a hand on her stomach. Henry and Billie were on the couch watching television with Peter asleep in-between them.

She made her way around the couch and sat down in her own personal chair, "So you guys leave me upstairs all alone because I had Billie blow up the t.v?"

Henry and Billie chuckled. "I'm going to miss it," the mortal joked.

"It was for the Greater Good, as some might lamely say," Billie commented, turning off the television with the remote. She spotted the newspaper, now on Paige's stomach, and asked, "So did you find any jobs you liked?"

"Nadda," Paige answered. "All the jobs being offered are extremely below what I'm capable of or not flexible enough to raise three kids and battle off the forces of Evil."

"I can always take up a second job," Henry offered. "We could use the extra money."

"No, you work hard enough," Paige said. She turned to Billie, "But Billie here is going to be starting work at P3 tomorrow night as a bartender."

"Piper's letting me work there?!" Billie exclaimed, almost waking up Peter.

"Yeah, she is, but she wanted me to warn you that you will be blown up should she lose her license," Paige warned. Although it came off as a joke, she had a feeling that Piper was slightly serious. Paige looked at Peter and asked, "How long has the little fella been knocked out?"

Henry shrugged, "Twenty minutes or so. The excitement of his penguin friend and everything else that happened here today wore him out." He stood up and reached down for Peter, "I think I'll take him to bed now. I'm a bit tired myself."

Paige nodded in agreement as Henry lifted Peter, "Good night."

"Good night," Henry said to both ladies, heading upstairs with Peter.

Billie curled up on the couch, tapping her knees, "So... Paige. There's something I should tell you about what Cameron said to me."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot," Paige admitted.

"Well, him and his fellow friends are thinking that I'm more than just a witch and possibly a sorceress," Billie informed.

"A sorceress?" Paige asked. "They aren't too different from witches, with the exception that they come into their powers easier..." she stopped. The idea was actually adding up. "And then your power of projection..." Paige stopped once more. "Billie, I have to say that maybe Cameron is onto something. We should really look into this."

"Do you really think so? I'm actually kinda hoping so, to be honest. It's not that I want to be extremely special in anyway, but they think that it might be the solution to finding Christy," Billie explained, then paused. She took a deep breath and said, "It's always one thing or another. First I needed to be able to control my projection power to find her, now I have to come into the nature of sorcery and-"

"Cool it," Paige said. "In the end, we will find your sister and hopefully she won't be Evil. I would hate for all of this to be for nothing." She stopped and turned to the furnace, "Speaking of things that are hot, Henry tells me that the furnace is still breathing cold fire?"

Billie nodded. "It sure is, but at least it's not blizzard cold anymore. I guess it's one of the things that remained enchanted after vanquishing the Prankster. I prefer this as opposed to that insane mop."

Paige chuckled, "Me too." She struggled to her feet and stated, "I'm off to bed. I have to send out many 'Thank You' notes in the morning to all the little creatures that helped out today."

The blonde rose to her feet and said, "Yeah, I'm heading to bed as well."

"Enjoy your very _normal_ walk up the stairs," Paige smirked, folding her arms. "I'm one big pregnant lady and I choose to make life easier for mys-" she stopped, and winked. "For the _babies_ of course." She orbed away and illuminated the dark living for a couple of seconds, leaving the potential sorceress behind in the living room of a nearly normal house.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: Thanks for reading. Once again, this was more of just a fun chapter more than anything and I hope you saw it that way. The next update will be on July 19th as that will mark the one year anniversary of this story and the title is "Twitchlighters", so I'm assuming you can figure out what it's about. Please review.**


	18. Twitchlighters

A/Note: I'll be brief. Today (July 19th) is the one year anniversary of this fic since I first premiered it and I wanted to make sure I celebrated that with a really important chapter, so please review, even if you're a stranger to reviewing this fic. It'd mean a lot to me to help celebrate the occasion. Enjoy reading.

**Chapter 18- Twitchlighters **

_**May 21**__**st**__** 2007**_

Paige moaned in pain as she sat on her bed. The twins were due any day now, but the pain was overwhelming. Sweat was running down her porcelain cheeks as her hair began to stick to her face. She looked down at her stomach and said, "Don't you two just wanna orb out for Mommy? I will buy you your own cars when you're older if you orb _out_ for Mommy!"

Henry walked in with a glass of water and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Paige took two breaths and said, "I'm hot as hell." She thought about it, "Maybe not as hot as the actual Hell, but pretty damn close to it." She took the glass of water and drank it all in one shot. "These babies are just trying to make this their home for another nine months." She rubbed her stomach and harshly whispered, "But Mommy is going to _evict _you by the end of this week!"

"Honey, calm down," Henry said, moving over to her and sitting by on the bed. He rubbed her back in gentle circles and said, "You just gotta breathe until it's time for the girls to come out."

"And when will that be?" Paige reasonably whined. She was suffering from huge cramps, mood swings, her feet suffered from all the body weight they had to carry, and she feared it would take a long time to gain back her original figure.

"You just gotta keep it together," Henry suggested. "Have you tried reading that book I bought you?"

"Yeah, I have," Paige answered, wiping her face with a tissue to absorb the sweat. "You know me too well. It's a really great book, but I've hardly been able to get past the second chapter because of all the pain." She took a deep breath and asked, "What is Peter up to?"

"He is playing with Billie in the conservatory. They're just playing catch with that rubber ball of his," Henry informed, taking the glass from Paige.

"I'm glad to hear he's having fun," Paige tried to sit up a little further and said, "I think we need to leave him here with Billie and you need to take me to the hospital. My due date was a week ago and the girls are just sucking their stubborn thumbs. I understand that there is more chance of birth delay when giving birth for the first time, but I'm going insane here! I _miss_ walking."

"Paige, you're going to get through this. You just have to hang in there a little while longer," Henry said, hoping to calm her down.

"You do know that I'm a witch, right? So in the case that I am just beyond annoyed, I can cast a spell to make you carry these babies and then I'll be the one telling you to hang in there! How does that sound?" Paige threatened with gritted teeth.

Henry's eyes widened. Him and Paige were officially married for a year a couple of weeks ago and were going as strong as possible, but he knew that Paige's threat was serious in her current condition. She would happily pass over her pain for a few minutes of pleasure. "Alright, if you want to go to the hospital, we'll go."

"Thank you," a relieved Paige said. "When the twins are older, I'll be sure to have them thank you because I was five minutes away from just orbing them out before they were ready. Can you just pack my book into the bag?"

"Of course," Henry obliged, getting off of the bed and getting Paige's bag in order. "Do you have to use the bathroom before we go?"

"Henry, I'm carrying children, I'm _not_ one," Paige snapped, letting the temper of her pregnancy get the best of her.

"Paige, all I meant was that you won't be able to orb out of the car if you need to go and your accuracy with orbing lately hasn't exactly been taking you to where you want to go," Henry reminded.

Paige pouted, remembering her previous attempt to orb to her bathroom and ended up appearing in Phoebe's kitchen. How she got the two mixed up was beyond her, but she assumed it was because of her magic acting up. Pregnancy brought about mixed emotions and the standard lesson of powers being tied to her emotions strongly applied here as well.

"You're right and if I'm being honest, I really do have to use the bathroom real quick," Paige began to move off of the bed and muttered, "Damn bladder."

Henry rushed to her side and assisted her. Once she was on her feet, he held his very pregnant wife's arms and slowly walked with her to the bathroom. He closed the door behind her and hurried to pack the rest of her belongings for her hospital stay. The mortal had been very hesitant on taking Paige to a hospital to give birth with the possibility of their daughters appearing in orbs, but maybe it wouldn't happen. Deep down he believed it would, but minor hope kept him sane.

He packed Paige's book into a black gym bag with Paige's pajamas, tissues, favorite magazines, extra underwear, and a pillow. They were set. The twins' room was finished with the help of Billie and now all they needed were the twins themselves. The room was cool in Peter's eyes, but he liked sleeping in the same bed as Henry and Paige. He didn't care about his own room for now and in the end, the girls would end up sleeping in cribs besides their parents' bed, so the family would all be in one room for a while.

He zippered the bag close when he heard Paige murmur, "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Henry asked. "Are you alright, Paige?" He walked over to the door and slowly opened it, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Paige answered.

The mortal entered and saw Paige standing with a puddle of water under her. Shock was written across Paige's face and he stated, "Your water broke."

"Good call, Doc," Paige replied, beginning to shake. She took a deep breath and exhaled, "Now we _really_ have to get to the hospital."

**(X)**

Both Paige and Henry came down the steps and Billie and Peter noticed they were in a rush. They walked towards them and Billie spotted the big bag over Henry's shoulder.

"Oh, my God, is it time?" Billie asked, excited.

"Yeah," Henry simply responded, ushering Paige at a reasonable pace.

Peter smiled and understood that Paige was finally going to give birth. "So my sistahs is comes-ing out? Cans we go?"

Henry turned to Peter as he reached the door and said, "It's not definite right now, but as soon as Paigey gives birth, we're going to call you guys. Just hang out here right now." Henry grinned as he opened the door for his wife and closed it behind them.

Billie bent down and picked up Peter, "Don't worry, little guy, they will definitely call us when your baby sisters are born. Until then, why don't we go and call your aunts and cousins so they know?"

"Yeah!" Peter shouted, raising his fist in excitement.

The witch turned with Peter still in her arms and moved towards the phone to alert the family.

**(X)**

Henry sat in the driver's seat with Paige beside him in the driveway. The engine was running, but they weren't moving. Paige turned to Henry and stared at him, "What's going on? Did you just forget I got two girls who are _finally _eager to come out?"

"Paige, when we come back home life won't be the same," Henry stated. "We caught Peter at a decent age, but the girls are going to be keeping us up every night and..."

"We'll adjust to it, Henry. No one said having a child is easy, let alone twins, but I like to think that we're going to find the strength to handle this all," Paige said. "I don't need you having doubts now."

"I'm not necessarily having doubts, but I'm just... Forget it, you're right. I guess I was having some doubts, but I think I got that off my chest now. Uh, we should get a move on," Henry said, looking at the rearview mirror to confirm he had the proper space to exit the driveway.

Paige put her hand on Henry's and asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Henry answered, beginning to turn the steering wheel as Paige removed her hand. "Let's go and deliver our daughters." He backed out of the driveway, leaving the quiet house with the knowledge that when he returned, silence would be rare.

**(X)**

Deep in the Underworld, a familiar demon walked into his lair, welcoming the scent of dead witches which happened to pass by the air. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his black suit and casually walked further into the lair and reached a cauldron. He sniffed the cauldron's bubbling aqua essence and poked one of the purple bubbles which were rapidly rising from the potion.

He looked up at the small demon who happened to be making the potion and said in his accent, "You're doing very well. I can already feel that urge of power rising within me. How long does it need to fully settle?"

"Not long, sir," the demon with slimy black teeth responded. "Not long at all." The minion adjusted his thick robe and asked, "Are you sure you'll be able to take in all of these abilities? You've killed many witches and there is a slight chance that these powers won't be able to rest within the same host without having some negative effect."

The first demon smirked and turned around the lair to eye his handy work. Four witches in gray rags concealing their bodies hung from shackles on the filthy brown walls. Scorch marks trailed along each witch's body with slight detection of extra marks as well against the walls. It was clear that these witches were hung up from the shackles and killed in those very spots.

The cocky demon stated, "The male witch hanging up there was the toughest to kill, but after I hit him with a hypnotic wave, he was too easy to slaughter."

"But, Nomed, I don't think you're understanding-"

"I understand the risk, clearly," Nomed replied. He turned around and his dark brown eyes gazed upon the lower level demon of sorcery. "I believe I've built up a strong enough exterior to withstand these witches' abilities. Just have the potion finished by the time I return. I'm off to gather the other clan members."

Nomed's body began to quickly shimmer within the air, resembling a steamy current breaking the air barrier, and he vanished in a matter of seconds.

**(X)**

Paige was sitting in her hospital bed in a white gown and her hair was now in a ponytail. She was no longer sweating excessively and actually found herself relaxed. This was all because of the medication they had given Paige roughly twenty minutes ago. She was currently reading the book Henry bought her about the story of two sisters named Pandora and Panthea who travelled the world together fighting off many monsters from Greek Mythology.

A knock at the door caused Paige to look up and she saw the nurse enter. Jackie was fair-skinned and had striking blue eyes. She wasn't the type of nurse who just stuck with her standard white outfit, but felt the need to express herself with a vast amount of jewelry to go along with her uniform. Jackie smiled at Paige and looked down at a clipboard, "Okay, Mrs. Matthews, how are you feeling?"

Paige chuckled, "I feel like kissing you for all these magical drugs you gave me." She folded the top corner of her page and closed her book. "Don't worry, I won't though."

Jackie grinned, "I can't tell you how many mothers-to-be offer to kiss me after getting drugs. So you're comfortable, right?"

"Very," Paige answered. "Thank you."

"Okay, well your husband is outside meeting the doctor at this moment and filling out some forms. How are your contractions coming along?" Jackie asked with her pen out, ready to record down Paige's answer.

"I haven't really been keeping track, too be honest," Paige admitted, tapping her book. "Are they hurting less because of the medicine?"

Jackie nodded as she wrote down Paige's response on her chart, "That's right-o, but do your best to keep track. It's necessary," Jackie placed the clipboard under her arm and said, "I should be back in about ten minutes or so to see how you're doing." With one last smile, Jackie turned on the heel of her white shoe and left.

Just as Paige was about to return to her book, Phoebe walked in with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. Her brown hair rested on her bare shoulders. A white Visitor label was pressed against her lime green top and she was also wearing white capri pants. She ran to the end of Paige's bed with a smile, "Any news on my nieces?"

The Witchlighter smiled, "Your st_ubborn_ nieces are just fine, I'm sure. Where's Coop?"

Phoebe pulled out a chair besides Paige and put her laptop bag on the floor before she sat down, "He's out there with Henry. Why he couldn't come in here first to greet you is beyond me, but that doesn't matter. Do you need anything?"

Paige nodded, "I'm fine, Phoebs. I got a great nurse waiting on my hands and feet, so you can just stay parked right there. How's everything going?"

"I charged out of work so I can get my rear over here to see my nieces being born," Phoebe replied with a smirk. "Piper's on her way as well, it's just taken her a lot more time to get the kids together."

"Good, because if these two come orbing out I'm going to need her to freeze the room," Paige commented. "I know that I'm extremely eager to give birth to these two right now, but once they're out there is going to be no putting them back in when, which I'm sure I'm going to want when they're screaming their little lungs out at four in the morning."

The middle sister grinned, "I'm the exact opposite. I'm _so_ eager to give birth that I'm promising myself that I won't mind my little girl disturbing my beauty rest." She stared at her younger sister and took her hand, "I understand that things are going to be rough, but you'll adjust. You learned how to be a sister and with us introducing you to your Charmed heritage, that was a task in itself. So if you can handle demons for all these years, what are two infants and a one year old compared to that?"

"Um, a lot," Paige replied. "When I engaged with demons, I was intending to kill them, but with three kids, I have to kinda preserve their lives. Big difference."

"My point was that if you could adjust to that lifestyle in the time you did, you have it in you to adjust to raising two baby girls," Phoebe explained. "Sure, you helped Piper out with the boys and you've been with Peter for months now, but I'm sure that you can say you've felt more protective over Peter than Wyatt and Chris, right?"

"Well..."

"Paige, I'm not going to run to Piper with this and frankly, she'd understand. Peter may not be your blood, but he's your son and you treat him as if he came from you and Henry," Phoebe said with a smile, placing her hand on Paige's. "I greatly admire that about you. It shows that you can open your heart to lengths you would've never really imagined."

"I never even saw myself as a mother, let alone the mother of a child that wasn't mine," Paige admitted. "I do love Peter so much though and I hope he knows that even when the girls are born that we won't automatically love them more."

"Well, I'm sure you and Henry will have to devote more time to the twins, but he and Billie seem to be a fun pair," Phoebe commented, removing her hand. "I'm sure she'll help you out with him and the girls."

Paige pushed herself up along the bed a little higher and responded, "Yeah, Billie will, but with this new information on her possibly becoming a sorceress, she might have her hands full if it entails her to do something special."

Both Henry and Coop walked in and Coop instantly waved to Paige. He grinned at her and asked, "How are you feeling, Paige?"

Paige looked slightly annoyed, "I'm feeling like I'm going to orb the next person into a desert that asks me that." She posed a smile and feigned a chuckle.

"Sorry I asked," Coop replied, the grin still across his face.

"Paige, your doctor should be coming to see you in a little bit," Henry informed, moving over to her side and taking her hand. "Are you thirsty? Hungry?"

Paige nodded and lied, "Yeah, I'm actually a little bit of both. Can you guys possibly go and get me some yogurt and a water?" She tapped away at her book as she moved out from Henry's hand and the three others looked at each other.

"I'll go and get the water," Phoebe said, walking out of the room.

"We'll go downstairs and get a couple of yogurts for you," Henry said, kissing his wife on the forehead before leaving with Coop. He understood that Paige just wanted to return to his book, because getting yogurt certainly wasn't a two-people job.

"Finally," Paige whispered, lifting her book to resume her reading. She loved her family, but she was never one to assume her role as the baby of the family and preferred working everything out on her own. She knew that her independence would ultimately suffer with having sisters, getting married, and having children which was a prime reason she felt she wasn't ready to be a mother, but her destiny of almost one year assured her that she would always have a part of herself to tend to alone.

**(X)**

Nomed returned to the Underworld in instant shimmers and moved towards his minion. "The rest of the clan are patiently waiting outside the lair on my orders. Is the potion ready? If I'm to make a move on the Charmed One, I'll need to be within the best of my abilities."

The minion grabbed a group of branches from an Underworld tree that were wrapped with straw. He spat on the branches, black saliva staining the straw and tossed it into the bubbling cauldron. The potion exploded with purple steam ascending and dispersing with a quick wave of the minion's hand. He grabbed a wooden ladle from the table beside him and dipped it into the cauldron, pulling out a cup of potion. "Here you go, Nomed. One fusion potion."

Nomed walked over and grabbed the ladle, grinning at the minion, "Cheers." He put his lips to the ladle and slurped the potion, feeling a rush of magical energy pour down his throat as his minion witnessed a silver glow wash over the demon. Upon finishing, Nomed walked over to the cauldron, refilling the ladle, "I'm here for seconds."

"Nomed, no!" The minion cautioned. "You're already putting yourself at risk by having one serving. These powers may not have a positive effect on you. You might be bringing an early death upon yourself."

Nomed slurped the second serving and threw the ladle into the cauldron where it fell to the bottom, not to be seen again. "I'm aware of the risk, minion. I asked you to make a large batch so my taste for power will be replenished with each serving until I ultimately gain enough power to destroy this _Witchlighter_ and with that, eliminating two witches who are bound to be as powerful as their mother. If I can prove myself successful of this task, I'll have enough power to take on the Twice Blessed Child and his brother who's power is feeble when compared."

Nomed took a couple of steps back and spun around in a slow circle, allowing his small greasy black curls to bounce with the motion. "Now, I'm off to kill the witch..."

As the demon began to shimmer away, streams of fire danced around his feet, showing a mixture of teleportation abilities. He vanished, but this side effect concerned his minion.

**(X)**

Paige reached the end of chapter three in her book when Nomed appeared before her with his strange teleportation. He waved at the Witchlighter as her eyes widened.

"You..."

"Yes, _me_," Nomed said, raising his arm as Paige did the same. The demon was quicker though and a clear hypnotic wave glided off of his fingertips and stunned the hybrid to an early sleep. He grinned and rubbed his fingers against his palm, causing purple friction and when he opened his hand fully, a purple sphere rolled around his palm and he cockily said, "I make this way too easy on myself. Your wretched children better not interfere with the kill." He was unsure if her twins ever showed signs of abilities from the inside and didn't want to be delayed so early on.

Phoebe walked in with a water bottle and saw the back of Nomed, not realizing it was a demon. She turned to Paige and saw she was unconscious. She listened closely and heard the purple sphere giving off a quiet buzzing and shouted, "Hey!"

Nomed turned around and both Phoebe's jaw and Paige's water bottle from her hand dropped when she saw who it was. Without wasting time, she leapt into the air, kicking Nomed square in the chest. Nomed stumbled back and the purple sphere returned within his stored power.

Phoebe swung her right fist at Nomed and managed to hit him in the jaw. She swiftly spun around, elbowing Nomed in his chest again and backed him into a wall.

The witch took a step back, catching her breath and when she charged Nomed again, the tables turned. Nomed gestured towards Phoebe with two fingers and sent her flying into the door. He grinned as she slammed against it, closing it. "You should've stayed outside, Phoebe."

Phoebe rubbed her head on the floor and groaned. "And you should've stuck to your word with leaving us alone."

The demon saw her getting up and he released another stream of forced hypnosis upon Phoebe, dropping her back to the floor. "I suppose I can play more with my food before the main meal." He gently motioned his wrist at Phoebe and sent her sliding across the floor and she slammed into a monitor.

Nomed turned back to Paige, feeling cockier than usual. "I have you right where I want you."

Six spheres of gold and white light begans to dance around the room, forming two silhouettes and ultimately produced two brunettes. The eldest of the two held out her hand and a lightning bolt quickly shot out from the core of her palm and against Nomed's shoulder.

Nomed flew off of his feet and slammed into the same door he tossed Phoebe into. He stared up at the identical women and snarled, "How?"

"Don't try to touch our mother," Sarah, Paige's eldest daughter, warned.

Samantha folded her arms and smirked, "Finish him off, Sarah. Didn't Mom teach us to mock the demon and then attack before they can vanish?"

Nomed's eyebrows narrowed and he snarled, "This isn't over."

Sarah held up her hand, ready to attack, but her foe vanished in shimmering flames. "Damn it."

"Told you to speed it up," Samantha said, turning to her elder sister. "Now we gotta chase a demon in the past." Samantha began to claw at her long brown hair, something she generally did when nervous.

The door opened and both Henry and Coop walked in, each holding a different flavor yogurt. They first spotted the twin women in front of them and Coop turned his attention to his fiancée.

"Phoebe!" The cupid dropped the yogurt and charged over to her, sliding onto his knees to check on her. He cupped his hand under her soft honey brown hair and felt her heart beating with his own. "She'll be fine."

The moment Henry entered, Samantha was prepared to call out to him, but due to Sarah's hand clasped over her mouth she couldn't. They both stared at their father, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Henry continued to stare at them, finding a slight resemblance and asked, "Who are you two?"

"Us?" Sarah asked cooly. "You know what, we're not going to pull a 'Chris Perry' on you and we're just going to come out with it." She turned to her sister, presenting her the option to spill the secret.

"We're your daughters," Samantha informed with a smile and a bounce of the shoulders.

Henry looked closer at the two. Both Sarah and Samantha had their mother's cheekbones and bone structure. Also sharing Paige's eyes, he knew that their light brown hair came from him when he was younger. His hair tone darkened over time, but it was apparent that their hair was staying the color.

Sarah was in a black long sleeve shirt with golden sparkles running along the sleeves to match the buckle on her belt which held up her black pants. Her sandy brown hair was straight and flowed over her shoulders with her brown eyes still gazing upon her father.

Samantha's hair was in several curly locks with bangs falling over her forehead. She was in a sky blue sleeveless top with white buttons falling down the middle. Hugging her legs were ordinary blue jeans with two navy blue pockets on her rear with matching patches on her knees. She dug her hands into her pocket and shrugged her shoulders again, "So, you just going to stand there, Dad?"

Henry's jaw hung open and he wasn't sure of what to say. This was his first time meeting with someone from the future and even if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been an area of expertise. What was he allowed to ask? What if they revealed something about the future that made him change his ways? Was he a good parent to them?

Sarah smirked, "Apparently he is. I think we should let him get his act together as we wake up Mom."

This reached Henry's ears and he turned to see his wife was unconscious. He ran past his daughters, where they both smelled a cologne they weren't used to smelling in years. Henry grabbed Paige's hand and asked his daughters, "What happened to her?"

"Gee, what a way to say 'hello', Dad," Sarah quipped, folding her arms against her chest. "A demon just hit her with a little sleeping spell."

"She's okay though, she should be able to come out of it all on her own," Samantha informed. "If need be, we can always force her out of her slumber with a quick spell."

"Well, do it!" Henry exclaimed.

Sarah turned to Samantha with a knowing grin, "I can't tell you how good it is to be parented by you." Sarah moved closer to her mother and told her sister, "Why don't you go heal our fallen aunt as I wake up Mom here with a spell? You're much better at the healing thing than me."

Samantha scoffed as she walked over to her aunt and bent down, holding her stretched out palms above Phoebe's unconscious body. "You've gotten better at it, sis. Maybe if you didn't doubt yourself so much, you'd be taking on charges of your own."

"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed. "You got your charges and I got my Innocents. I'm not too keen on switching things up anytime soon." She placed her hand over her mother's forehead and closed her eyes, preparing a spell as her sister healed Phoebe.

**(X)**

Paige's eyes slowly fluttered open after her subconscious heard chanting from a gentle voice. Her eyes opened and fell back down, but she could've sworn she saw a young woman who looked very similar to her. The next time her eyes opened, they remained open and gazed upon Sarah.

The Witchlighter looked around and saw her husband who happened to be blocking Samantha from sight and tried to figure out what happened with Nomed. She turned back to Sarah and figured she wouldn't discuss this in front of a stranger. Paige eyed Sarah's clothes and her assumption of this being her doctor was crossed out, so she asked, "Who are you?"

"Me?" Sarah asked, grinning. "I'm one of two."

"Excuse me?" Paige asked, turning to Henry. "Who is this crazy lady?"

"Funny you call her crazy, Paige," Henry grinned. "Apparently, she's our daughter." He watched as her wife shot a quick glance at Sarah. "It must run in the family."

"But... She's one person," Paige obviously stated. "Where's her sister? Did something go wrong?" She turned to Henry, who stepped out of the way, revealing Samantha.

Blood rushed to Paige's pale cheeks and provided an instant blush. She stared at Samantha, turned to Sarah and looked down at her stomach. Without looking up, she asked, "You're from the future, aren't you?"

Samantha walked over to Sarah and told her mother, "We sure are, Mom."

Paige stared at her daughters, only having seen Piper's children come from the future. This was an experience of her own. She grinned and asked, "Well, what are your names? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

The eldest twin grinned, "We like our names and you will come to them on a natural course, but we're here to make sure that you give birth to us today."

"What do you mean? What's supposed to happen?" Paige asked, frightened. She took her husband's hand and gripped it tightly.

"Well, we're supposed to be born today, but Nomed has other plans," Samantha informed. "So we're here to make sure that we can put a dent on his plans, just like the Book of Shadows instructed us."

With her free hand, Paige placed it against her forehead and shook her head. "Wait, the Book told you to come here?"

Sarah turned to her younger sister, "Wow, this future stuff is pressing. Never again."

Samantha smirked and turned back to her mother, "_Well, you _wrote in the Book of Shadows that we're supposed to come on this day to ensure our lives. So basically the you in our time wrote that entry when we were born and now we've come from our time to make sure that we are _born_ in this time. So after all this is done, you gotta make sure that the twins growing inside _you _are left with instructions to go back in time in twenty-two years to make sure the _next_ set of twins are born." The Whitelighter-skilled twin inhaled a well-deserved breath after explaining the process.

Henry looked from his daughters to his wife and shrugged his shoulders, "They lost me at coming on this day to ensure their lives."

Paige nodded at Samantha, "Yeah, surprisingly, I understand what you're saying. I appreciate you not being so cryptic though. Where's Peter?"

Sarah waved her finger and said, "Nope, we can't go talking about him now. When we chanted that spell to leave the future to come here, there was a promise that we made to the cosmos that we wouldn't reveal much." She shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, technically, we didn't promise the cosmos anything, but it's the whole burden of time traveling; if you come from the future, you don't talk about the past."

"Yeah, we get it," Phoebe said, rubbing her forehead at all this time-travel talk. "So have you guys served your purpose by letting us know about Nomed?"

"Not exactly," Sarah answered. "Mom here is a bit tied up at the moment, so we're here to fill in. Two Witchlighters for the price of one." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Wait, you girls are Witchlighters, too?" Henry asked, eyes widening.

"Well, yeah," Sarah answered. "We're the daughters of the destined Witchlighter herself. Although there may be others..." she turned to her mother once more. "... You're the one that will be remembered throughout time, Mom."

Paige's grip loosened on Henry's hand and she placed both palms on her stomach. "And to think I was pissed off after learning about all of this. I now have a reserved seat in the history of the world." She grinned. "Pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself."

Sarah unfolded her arms and clapped her hands, "And now we have a demon to chase after. Who's up for it?" She scanned the room and turned to Phoebe. "You look like you want some revenge after, don't you?"

"Yeah, I could go for a battle. It's been a while," Phoebe said, stretching her arms behind her back to flex the muscles she gained over the years. "Aside from today, of course."

"Take Billie with you," Paige advised, ready to send her daughters off into battle knowing it's the nature of a witch. "But just one of you bring Peter to me. I don't want him in the house if you're inviting demons over to play."

"Of course," Samantha said. "I'll orb the little guy right on over." She held out her hand to Phoebe and the witch willingly grabbed it. Samantha rested her hand over Sarah's shoulder, preparing to orb off.

"Wait, I want to help too," Coop offered.

"Coop, this demon took me down. No offense, honey, but that means he'd be able to take you out as well," Phoebe said. She waved her hand and showed her the ring on her finger, "I still have you with me, and this alone will keep me safe. Just help watch my baby sister and get her out of here if anyone comes."

Coop nodded, knowing there would be no talking his way into going with her. He just watched as his future nieces and fiancée orbed out of the hospital room.

Henry spotted Coop's inner frustration and said, "It's not easy watching them orb into battle, is it?"

"You would know," Coop commented, putting on a small grin for the Mitchells.

**(X)**

Samantha, Sarah, and Phoebe appeared in the foyer of the Mitchell-Matthews manor in three separate, yet joint columns of orbs. When they were clearly visible, they instantly spotted Billie who was holding Peter's hand.

"Whoa!" Peter exclaimed in a loud whisper. He smiled at Phoebe and ran over to her, hugging her legs like he did when he first met her on his birthday. This had become his traditional ambush hug with his aunt. "Aunt Phoebe!"

Phoebe picked him up from under his arms and balanced him on her hip, kissing him on the cheek. "How are you doing, Peter Pan?"

"I'm fine," Peter answered, surprising her with a kiss on the cheek. He looked at Samantha and Sarah and asked, "Who's dey?"

"Yeah, good question," Billie sharply responded. "I'm going to assume friend as opposed to foe right off the bat by those orbs."

"They're more than just friends, Billie," Phoebe explained. "They're family. Check out the resemblance and put that with the fact that they're twins and what do you get?"

Billie's eyes widened and she pointed at the twins, "You're Paige's twins?"

"Ding, ding, what's her prize?" Samantha quipped, raising friendly eyebrows at the witch. "I'm just kidding."

"No worries," Billie replied, grinning at the two girls in front of her. "This is so bad ass." She looked at Peter, who was now staring at her, understanding the bad word. "Sorry, sweetie. Just don't repeat me or tell your parents."

"Dey too big to be my sisters," Peter commented, unsure of magic's possibilities with the future. "Paigey gives birth, alweady?"

"Oh, how should we explain this?" Phoebe said, letting an awkward silence follow.

"We should've asked Chris the best way to go about this," Samantha admitted, eyeing her older brother at his younger age.

"Too late now," Sarah said, stopping to think. "Or would that be too _early_ since we're-"

"Hey!" Samantha interjected. "We promised ourselves that we wouldn't get caught up in all this time travel lingo." She turned to Peter and said, "We're just your sisters, but much older. Do you know what the future is?"

Peter nodded side to side, "No."

"Well, the future is a little bit hard to explain, but it's a moment in time that follows this moment. It's..." she stopped, rolling her hands around in a circle to find the right words as her mother commonly does when winging a spell. "What lies ahead. Do you kinda understand what we're saying?"

Peter gently nodded, still confused for the most part. He shrugged his little shoulders and innocently replied, "I think so."

"You don't have to understand it all right now, Peter, but know that your Paigey is still getting ready to give birth to the sisters you are going to live with," Samantha explained. "Do you understand that?"

"Yeah," Peter honestly answered. "What is your names?"

Sarah turned to Samantha and asked her, "Do you think we should make that exception for him? He is just a curious mind after all."

"Yeah, I guess," the youngest twin agreed. "I'm Samantha."

"And I'm Sarah," the eldest said. "You should probably go and take him to the hospital to be with Mom."

"Definitely," Samantha agreed, taking ahold of Peter. She grinned, "So, I hope you're a fan of orbing at this stage of your life." She brushed his hair back and vanished in a culmination of orbs.

"So what do we owe this visit?" Billie asked. "And what am I like in the future?" She grinned, eager to get knowledge from the future.

"You're dead," Sarah bluntly said. She noticed the complete shock in Billie's face and chuckled, "I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry." 

Billie squinted her eyes and pointed her finger at her, "I could just slap you right now."

"No touching your elders," Sarah said, making her way past Billie and towards the stairs.

"Um, I'm twenty-one and you're not even born yet," Billie replied, following.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm currently twenty-two, making me a year older than you," the Witchlighter from the future proudly stated.

"And you're not even going to have an age to boast about if we don't make this potion, so less chatter and more plotting," Phoebe said from behind.

**(X)**

"Damn witches!" Nomed shouted in the Underworld lair where he received his new powers. He paced in front of members of his clan, all in black attires, along with the demon who created the potion. "They came from the future to stop me."

"That must mean you didn't succeed, Nomed," one demon assumed.

"It must," Nomed said. "No one turns them either. Not an ounce of evil could be detected within their blood. They must be as powerful as their Witchlighter mother. I knew that twins being produced would lead to some definite power, but when I tasted that lightning bolt against my chest... It was unlike any other. We must see if we can eliminate these witches all at once now."

"What do you suggest we do?" another asked. "Perhaps we can take in some of the power you now have within you."

Nomed stopped pacing. He turned to the demon and said, "You dare ask for a share in my power? You don't have the strength to contain these abilities and I refuse to waste good potion on a demon of your level." He held out his hand as if he was about to produce an offensive attack and said, "But I'll spare you. If you're going to die, it'll be at the hands of one of the witches. I refuse to shed myself of anger on you like all the other idiotic demons who vanquished their allies."

Nomed moved over to the cauldron where he telekinetically stirred the potion, erupting in a sphere of potion that remained elevated in the air. He turned to the minion who gave up on trying to warn him and mentally welcomed the potion to fly into his mouth in a long stream, giving him more power. His dark eyes now glowed purple before returning to their normal color.

"What we're going to do is make another attempt at the Witchlighter," Nomed informed. "We're going to kill three witches with one stone, hopefully. If we can kill them, I'll be able to absorb their powers before they ascend into some other plane, but I have a backup plan as well. If we don't succeed in immediately killing the mother of these powerful twins, we're going to make sure we kill them here to ruin their timeline."

"Just so they won't be able to return home?" One demon asked.

"Correct," Nomed answered with a sly smile. "And, if we can kill them in our time, I'll be able to steal their already grown abilities."

"How is it that they've come from the future with their powers?" Another demon asked, never hearing of this before.

"Witches from the future must have discovered some potion or spell to bear their powers through time travel," Nomed assumed. "Also, technically, they haven't been born yet so they hold all rights to their abilities." He waved his hand over the cauldron, producing a silver cage that kept it from being accessed from anyone else but himself. "But I want the rights to their powers."

**(X)**

"Coop, take Peter outside!" Henry shouted at the cupid, who immediately acted and walked with Peter outside the hospital room. The mortal rushed to his wife's side as she experienced another painful contraction.

"I need the doctor," Paige shouted, gripping the collar of his shirt and lowering him to her level. "So help me, Henry, if you don't get him... I will _orb_ your ass into the Underworld where you will be _forced _to _fend_ for yourself!"

"Paige, you need..." Henry started, before being physically pushed away by Paige and he stumbled back a few steps. "Pai-"

"Where are my sisters?" Paige shouted, pressing her fingers inside her bed. "I need Piper! And Phoebe!" Tears from all the pain slid down her rosy red face, clutching onto the bed some more.

"Paige, I'm going to go and get your doctor," Henry informed, making his way to the door.

"_Now_ you want to get him?" Paige shouted. "No, Henry, no, how about we give him another five minutes to get his wits together?" Her face strained as she sensed another contraction not far behind. "Get Piper!" 

Henry charged out of the room, looking for both Paige's doctor and eldest sister. The door closed behind him and three demons shimmered in, all holding energy balls.

One sneered as Paige's eyes were closed from the straining and figured she hadn't sensed them. He threw his energy ball and before it could crash into her, it was absorbed in orbs and reversed course. The energy ball smacked into the chest of the demon, blowing him up where he stood. As the flames quickly devoured him, his screams reached Paige's ears.

She opened her honey brown eyes and shouted, "You have _got _to be kidding me!" Paige threw her arm out, hoping to telekinetically throw the energy balls into the demons, but was only successful in slamming the demons into the walls.

The energy balls of her opponents retreated back into the palms of the demons for reasons of inactivity.

The Witchlighter wanted to scream for help, but she couldn't risk mortal lives to protect her. Besides, it was a possibility that the demon didn't just combust on his own, so maybe there was someone looking out for her. She threw up her hand again and shouted, "Underworld!"

Only one demon was absorbed in a dazzling column of orbs and she had been aiming for both. Her powers were acting up, but hopefully the vanishing demon wouldn't return for some time. The remaining demon stood to his feet and quickly generated an energy ball. He raised his arm to throw it until the door opened and slammed into his back.

The neon blue energy ball flew out of his hands and exploded in the wall behind Paige's head. The demon began to pick himself up from the white floor and turned to see Piper standing over him.

The eldest sister caught sight of the hole in the wall and then the demon on the floor. She turned to Paige and asked, "Demon?"

Paige nodded, sobbing with relief to see her sister come help her. "Blow him up."

Piper looked back down at the demon and saw that he was generating a new energy ball. With a quick gesture, she blew up both the energy ball and the demon, creating a more fiery vanquish. "No need to tell me twice." She rushed to Paige's side and brushed back the strands of her brown hair which were sticking on her forehead. "What was that about?"

Paige shook her head from side to side, "I don't know, Piper, they just came and..." she stopped to let out a painful scream from another contraction, palming her large stomach. "I think the twins are getting ready to come out, Piper! I need a doctor! And my husband!"

Piper took her sister's hand and said, "I saw him on my way in and he's looking for your doctor. You just have to hang in here and break my hand if necessary." She grinned at her sister and said, "I'm sure it's within your abilities to heal my broken bones after. If not, we're in a hospital so all will be well." The eldest looked to the opposite side of the bed and saw Phoebe's laptop. "Where exactly is Phoebe?"

**(X)**

"Sarah, watch out!" Phoebe shouted, taking caution for herself as she dived behind a knocked over table to dodge a ferocious energy ball. She heard the sphere of energy crash into Paige's wall and was just glad to have avoided it. She felt moisture all over her skin and looked down to find that her skin was stained with red and blue potions. She turned to the floor where she saw a cauldron spilling the contents and she just rolled her eyes, "This better come off."

Phoebe peeked out from the table and saw Sarah with her hand raised, ejecting a blue lightning bolt into Nomed's chest, blasting him out of the altar room. Both twins then chased after him as the Charmed One ran out from behind the table when she saw a demon closing in on Billie with an athamae. With her stained arm, the witch swung it back and quickly slammed it into the back of the demon.

After the impact, the demon dropped his athamae and fell to the floor. He looked up to the ceiling and let out an agonizing scream as he was consumed in violet flames.

Phoebe looked to her arm, figuring that the potion must've rubbed off against him and still had some effect. She tapped Billie on her shoulder and said, "Watch your back a little closer next time." Both her and Billie ran out into the hallway where they saw the twin Witchlighters at the end by the staircase.

"Those two sure know how to clear house," Billie said, jogging after them. As both she and Phoebe were running down the stairs, they saw Sarah with her arms raised.

"So what was it, Nomed?" Sarah asked as a powerful wind began to whistle. "Were you aiming to kill us or take our powers? I gotta say, you picked a real punk time to make a move." A gray gust emanated from the eldest twin's palms and lifted Nomed into the air, slamming him against the wall.

"Try not to break Mom's stuff," Samantha said. "She hasn't exactly gotten that job yet."

"You witches think you're funny?" Nomed shouted, conjuring a black fireball with gold sparkles occasionally shooting out. He waved his arm and released the strange attack, which was quickly deflected by Billie.

"Actually, I'm the witch that thinks she's funny," Billie commented, raising her hand. "I know I got my hits and misses, but overall, I'm delightfully amusing." She grinned. "You're outnumbered."

"That means nothing, Billie," Nomed snarled, rising to his feet as his eyes flashed purple and quickly returned back to normal. "You don't have the power to defeat me. I hold too much power within me, none that you can match." He conjured up another black fireball and quickly launched it before anyone had a chance to react.

Sarah was smacked in her abdomen by the magical attack and instead of flying back, she hovered high into the air where golden electric currents ran around her body. She screamed in pain, something not familiar with any of the other witches, including her sister.

"Sarah!" Samantha shouted. She reached out for her sister before a black lightning bolt shot into her side, catapulting her into the stair railing and she ultimately crashed through it, landing amongst splintered wood and debris. As she rested on the steps, her breaths became more and more shallow.

Phoebe turned to Billie and said, "Get Sarah down. Figure something out!" The witch charged towards Nomed with no power to defend herself, but with a family to protect; even if that family didn't technically exist yet.

The Charmed One swung her fist at Nomed, luckily making contact with his jaw. The demon only stumbled back and Phoebe's fist hurt since his jaw seemed to be tougher than most demon's. She quickly hit him with a crescent kick in his jaw once more, but her foot didn't hurt as much as her fist did upon impact. She elbowed him in his stomach before grabbing him by his shoulders and falling with him to the floor. The witch fell on her back and she flipped Nomed over her with the great will of her leg strength. She performed an impressive kip-up and returned to a fighting stance.

"How'd it taste to get your ass kicked by a witch with no offensive abilities?" Phoebe mocked, holding her fist up as she was prepared to fight again. She saw the demon wasn't returning to his feet and saw Sarah drop from the air, violently choking.

Billie rushed to the future Witchlighter's side and brushed her now frizzy hair out of her face and asked, "Are you okay? Sarah?"

Sarah clutched her chest, still feeling electric currents run around the inside of her body and she let out a short scream. "Where's... Sam?"

Billie looked up to the staircase where Samantha was still breathing, "She's fine. You just have to hang in there."

Phoebe was about to run past Nomed when she saw him telekinetically lift himself up from the floor, immediately conjuring another black fireball with the golden currents buzzing around it. "Billie, look out!"

The blonde witch was still on the floor when she quickly shifted around to see the attack flying her way. She threw out her hand, forcing the fiery black sphere back into it's sender.

Nomed flew straight up into the air, feeling the same painful effects as Sarah did moments ago. He swung his fists around, trying to battle the electrifying cage and he just let out a painful scream. "I'll be ba-" Nomed couldn't bear to feel the pain any longer and just vanished from his spot in a black cloud of smoke with ferocious flames following.

"I think we got him," Phoebe said. "He got cut off and that looked like a vanquish to me." The witch moved from her spot and began to jog up to the steps to check on her future niece. She brushed the brunette's hair and gently tapped her shoulder, receiving a stronger breath from her. "Hey, we got the demon."

Samantha looked up at Phoebe, her eyes fluttering, "So we served our purpose."

"You sure did," Phoebe replied. "You helped save your future along with a ton of heartache from this family if he would've gotten to you. I just think you need to heal your sister now." She helped Samantha to her feet, being careful not to lose her balance on the steps.

Samantha ran down the steps and when she reached the bottom floor, she slid onto her knees with her hands extended over her sister. The golden healing light glowed from her milky white palms and healed her sister from the near fatal attack. "You alright?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah. Thanks, sis."

"Nomed's gone," Billie informed. "It turns out he wasn't as tough as he thought he was." She looked at her watch and back at the group of witches. "Shouldn't we be getting to the hospital?"

Phoebe turned to Samantha and said, "Alright, I know you're not supposed to be telling us about the future and all, but I have a question that doesn't regard me having kids or anything. Are you guys going to be born in orbs? Do you know?"

"Oh..." Samantha looked over sympathetically to her sister, "There will be orbs for sure."

**(X)**

"Paige, push!" Henry shouted, his grip tight around Paige's sweaty hand. He assured her, "You can do it, just keep pushing!"

Piper was on Paige's right side, ignoring the wishes of the doctors and nurses to leave. She was standing by Paige's shoulder, but was hanging a little more at the end of the bed to freeze the doctors if she saw any orbs.

"I... Can't! It hurts!" Paige cried, her face was the reddest Henry had ever seen. Her labored breathing made the experience far worst and her forehead cringed as she felt one girl making her way out.

"We see a head," the doctor announced, reaching in under Paige's hospital gown to palm the child's head. "You're doing excellent, Paige."

Piper proudly looked onto her sister and raised a hand to her mouth. She took a deep breath as her eyes began to tear. She lowered her hand and said, "You're doing fantastic, Paige. You're doing great, you just need to give one hard push."

"I..." Paige was no longer about to say she couldn't. She cringed again; her cheeks rose almost as high as her eyes and her eyelids hid her honey brown eyes with great force. She screamed, feeling her first child slide out of her with the doctor's hands making contact with her body as he helped pull the child out.

The doctor cradled a bloody baby girl who was wailing in her first moments of life. No orbs followed her, but the smiles of two new parents and one pleased aunt did.

Paige cried tears of joy as she threw herself against her pillow, her gaze not leaving her daughter. "Oh, my God. She's..."

"Beautiful," Henry said. The nurse approached him with a scissor. Without having to be told, he took the scissor from Jackie and walked over to cut the umbilical cord. He was even closer to his daughter now and just watched her as she was carried away by Jackie to get cleaned.

"Oh no..." Paige said, discovering she didn't have as much time of a break as she thought. She felt the familiar sensation she often felt with orbing and she turned to Piper, actually making her best attempt to hold the second baby in as opposed to pushing. "Piper! Do it, do it!"

The eldest Halliwell quickly threw up her hands and froze the mortals on the scene. The sounds of a wailing child continued and the gentle jingle of orbs were accompanied with four columns of orbs. The orbs vanished and revealed the quartet that finished battling Nomed.

"Finally!" Samantha exclaimed. "Does it really take forever to freeze a doctor?" She smiled at her mother, "We got the demon, by the way."

Sarah turned her attention to the crying baby and said, "Aw, I look so cute." She began to walk over to herself and caught sight of her frozen father, "Hey, Aunt Piper?"

"Aunt Piper?" Piper repeated. "Who the hell are you two?"

Sarah glared, "We're twins. Put one and one together."

Piper put her hands to her mouth and turned to Paige, "Did _you_ cast a spell?" She saw how uncomfortable Paige was looking and said, "Oh, you're still giving birth. Sorry."

"Piper, unfreeze Henry," Phoebe instructed.

Billie moved her way over to baby Sarah and put her hands over her mouth, "She's so gorgeous."

Henry unfroze by Piper's release and was confused to see four additional people in the room. "What's going on?"

"I can't hold her in any longer!" Paige cried, pushing her second daughter at with ease as she flew out in swaddling orbs with the umbilical cord flying out from Paige.

Samantha quickly caught herself, smiling down at her baby version, "Oh, this is kinda awkward." Her father quickly ran over and cut the cord, allowing Samantha to see that her younger self was staining her sky blue top with blood when the orbs vanished, but she couldn't care. Magic provided her the miracle to see herself born. "Would it be conceited of me to say that I look great?"

Paige sobbed and stared at her second daughter, "I did it." She grinned, "And I didn't even have to force orb them out."

Henry moved over to his wife and kissed her. He parted lips and rested his forehead on hers, "I'm so proud of you. You did it." He kissed her one more time, before his daughter's future self spoke out.

"Yes, we're very happy to be born, but you guys need to explain to the doctor why your future daughter is cradling her baby version," Sarah informed. "Oh no." She turned to her twin and said, "Do you feel it?"

Samantha quickly passed off her younger self to Phoebe and stood by her sister. "It feels a bit early." They interlocked arms and stared at their parents. She more importantly shifted to Henry and whispered, "I love you."

Before any of the family members could say their goodbyes, the twins vanished in a sea of dancing lights, sending them back to their time.

Piper stared at the frozen doctor, "Unless we hurry this up, their births are going to be recorded minutes apart."

"Fine, by me. We'll know the truth and that's all I care about," Henry said.

"So can someone cast a spell to fix this?" Paige asked. "I'm sorta out of it."

"I'm on it," Piper muttered.

**(X)**

Paige made room on the bed to allow Henry to sit next to her, each cradling one of their clean babies. The beautiful baby girls were identical, but they hadn't even developed their own personal looks yet. They already had light brown hair on the top of their heads and although they were sleeping in their parents' arms, they had already seen the honey brown eyes and their noses matched that of their mother.

"They look so much like you," Henry commented to his wife.

"Do they now?" Paige asked, grinning with no end. "Despite a demon trying to kill me and my children, this day still feels pretty perfect." She shrugged her shoulders, "I'll admit though I am slightly upset that we didn't get too really bond with our future daughters."

"We have the real thing here," Henry reminded. "We'll get to know those girls later in life." He gently rubbed the cheek of a so far unnamed Samantha and said, "Peter looked pretty excited to see his new sisters."

The new mother chuckled, "He sure did. I gotta say, I did not expect myself to be in charge of three children in this point of my life." She turned to Henry and said, "I wouldn't change it though. I'm glad to be married, I'm looking forward to more journeys of being a mother, and I still have that magical destiny going on for me of course."

Her nurse, Jackie, walked in and knocked on the door gently upon entering. "How are my new parents doing?"

"We're doing pretty great," Henry answered, still gazing at Samantha.

"So do we have names yet for those darling twins?" Jackie asked, waving a clipboard. "I got the birth certificate forms whenever you're ready."

"We haven't really decided yet," Paige admitted. "Do we have to give you something before we can leave?"

"Not at all," Jackie responded, looking down at her clipboard. She began to scribble something down and chuckled. "That's funny."

"What is?" Paige asked.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I was putting down the date and apparently, today is the first day of the timeline for the gemini zodiac," Jackie explained. "I always find it funny when twins are born around this time because of it being the sign of twins. Funny coincidence, huh?" She smiled and left.

Paige turned to Henry and chuckled, "I think that's what they were waiting for. They wanted to be born on this day."

"What took them so long though? They had all day," Henry replied.

"I don't know," Paige looked down at Sarah and said, "You and your little sister are going to get it when you're older. Extra chores." She jokingly glared at her daughter and the small white tags around her wrist, still without a name. "Now what are we going to name you?"

**(X)**

_**2029**_

Dancing spheres of white and gold lights appeared in the altar room of the Mitchell Matthews manor and the twins immediately saw their foster brother at the Matthews Book of Shadows.

Peter stared at the blood on his baby sister's shirt and said, "Sam, what happened? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Baby me just got her blood all over me," Samantha explained. "It was such a sight seeing us born."

"And seeing Dad," Sarah said. "It was just so hard to keep up the act to not just hug him fiercely without being suspicious."

"I know how you feel," Samantha said. "I just wanted to warn him that-"

"Me too," Sarah finished with a bowing nod. She found the strength to look at Peter, a man who looked nothing like their father, but shared many qualities with him. "I'm sorry to just talk about him in front of you like this. It was unfair that we were the only ones that got to go back in time. Not really fair for you."

"There's more to it," Peter commented. "How'd your demon hunt go?"

"Billie vanquished the demon," Sarah informed. "Then we witnessed Samantha's birth."

"Nomed's not dead," Peter stated. He tapped on a page in the Book and said, "After you guys left, more of Mom's writing began to fill the page and it turns out that I'm going to be expected soon enough to end him once and for all."

"Hold on," Samantha said with her hand in the air. "Does that mean that you're..."

Peter nodded, "Yeah. I'm going back in time to kill that demon." The tall brown-haired mortal stared at his sisters and took a deep breath. "In due time though. At least I'll get to see Dad."

**End of Chapter. **

**A/note: **Thanks for reading, especially to those who have been following for a year. It really means a lot to see your interest hasn't waned and I'd like to thank my other readers as well who have helped build a large fanbase for this fic with all your reviews. Thanks to everyone who has favorited this story as well, although it would be nice to hear from you, I'm honored you at least cared enough to take the time to read.


	19. The Boy Who Cried Demon

**A/Note:** Really sorry for the unannounced hiatus. A thousand and three hundred things came up that maliciously prevented me from posting chapters that have been done since summer. Hopefully you readers can find time to read this rather lengthy chapter and won't hold grudges by withholding comments.

**Chapter 19-** The Boy Who Cried Demon

_**May 24th, 2007**_

Paige kneeled over in the foyer to pick up the white fire truck from the floor along with Peter's blanket as she managed to keep the phone balanced on her shoulder. "It was really painful, Glen. I was lucky that Samantha came out in orbs otherwise I don't think I would've survived it." The Witchlighter freely walked around the foyer to set the blanket and toy down on the wicker bench with carrying only the weight of her own.

"Alright, so I recognize that Sarah was your mother's name, but how did you pick Samantha?" Glen asked on the other end. Although Glen was married now to his wife Jessica, his and Paige's friendship never waned despite her bringing his fiancee at the time to the Underworld. There were many parts of Paige's life that he knew better than her own husband did.

"Well, since we named Sarah after my adoptive mother, we named Samantha after Henry's who meant a great deal to him as well," Paige explained, walking out the foyer to make her way to the kitchen. "I wish I could've met her, but she's assumably up in heaven above with my parents talking about how I'm too wild for her son."

Glen laughed on the other end and said, "You are a bit of a wild child, but you gotta tame yourself a little bit with three kids. How's little Peter doing?"

"He's fine. I do think he feels as if he's not getting as much attention, which is true, but we kinda have to give newborn baby girls a little more attention," Paige defended. "This is the first time I'm working with babies of my own and this is the first time Henry is working babies at all. He's a natural though."

She entered the kitchen where she moved over to the microwave and pressed the proper button to open the door. Inside were two bottles of milk that were sitting in there for a couple of minutes after having been warmed up.

"So when do you think that you and Jessica are going to shake up the sheets a bit to get a little creation of your own?" Paige playfully asked as she took out both bottles, set them on the counter and closed the microwave door.

"Considering that Jessica and I barely live in our own home, probably not," Glen joked.

Paige squirted a small portion of the first bottle on her pale skin and confirmed the temperature was just right. "Was that your attempt to make me a jealous woman for refusing to take up that weekend offer to hike with you and blondie?" Paige repeated the procedure with the second bottle as she chuckled.

"_Jessica_ was actually really looking forward to getting to know you better, especially after having such a great time with you at your anniversary dinner," Glen commented. He sighed and said, "Look, Paige, I gotta kinda cut this short. Jessica will be home from her folks' soon and I didn't exactly clean our bedroom as I promised I would."

Paige laughed, "I see the tables have turned. I used to be the 'socks in the sink' kind of girl whereas you were the 'socks in the drawer' kind of guy."

Glen laughed, "Yeah, well, I get lazy every now and then and after I saw your great house I would have to say that you changed as well. I hope to talk to you sometime soon and congrats again. Email me pictures of the girls soon and with Peter. Keep me updated with what the little guy is up too."

"I will, Glen. Call me soon. Bye," Paige concluded, hanging up the cordless and putting it on the counter. She grabbed the two bottles of milk and walked out the kitchen. It felt strange to have this feel so natural to her, but she was an aunt for a few years so it made this whole process easier.

Paige and the twins had been home for a day and the newborn baby girls were already settled. Henry returned to work as he couldn't afford to ignore his parolees, but Billie was around to help her with Peter and the twins.

The Witchlighter made her way upstairs and entered the children's bedroom and saw one four foot wide crib with a three foot length. Both Paige and Henry had decided to buy the large white crib to be shared by the twins since there was no need for separate cribs and with the extra money, they purchased a bed for Peter in the room.

The room was sky blue with several friendly white cloud illustrations on the wall with black eyes and smiles imprinted in the clouds. Around the clouds were many yellow stars that generally wouldn't show at the time of day depicted on the walls, but this was only for a child's entertainment. In the corner of the room were several toys for Peter and other small toys for the twins when they got at least a couple months old.

Peter was sitting on his bed with his coloring book as the twins were fixated on the mobile spinning above the crib with the cycle of four animal dolls; a giraffe, elephant, duck, and a dolphin. A gentle jingle accompanied the animals as the eyes of the twin followed.

Billie was in the corner of the room with a shirt tied in a knot to expose her stomach as she leafed through the Book of Shadows. She glanced up at Paige and saw the bottles, "Feeding time?"

"It sure is," Paige answered, turning to Peter and smiling at him. She moved over to the crib and looked down at the twins. In a cute voice she said, "Hi, my little angels!" She grinned and asked Billie, "What are you up to with the Book?"

"Considering I'm Sarah's godmother, I'm just researching how to call upon fairy guards to protect her and her sister before you get a Wiccaning going on and I spoke with Phoebe and she's cool with me handling all this fairy guard business. She admitted it wasn't an area of expertise for her anyway," Billie explained, still flipping through the magically aged pages. "When are you going to have that Wiccaning, by the way?"

"Soon," Paige answered, reaching into the crib to pick up Samantha after setting aside the milk next to the changing table. "But as you tell me, my girls handled themselves against Nomed. They might not need a Wiccaning to protect them." Paige looked back at her daughters, "Right you don't need Mommy to protect you, my little Witchlighters?"

"When do you think they're powers are going to kick in?" Billie asked.

"Deys gonna gets powars?" Peter asked, looking up from his coloring book. "How doos I gets powars?"

Paige bit her lip as she gently cradled Samantha, swaying her back and forth. She turned to Billie and said, "Can you get Sarah and feed her the bottle?"

"Sure," Billie nodded, putting the Book of Shadows on the seat she sat on as she moved over to pick up Sarah.

Paige turned to Peter and said, "Sweetie, we went over this. You're not going to get powers because you're not a witch."

"Cans you gives me powars? I want some!" Peter pleaded, tossing his coloring book on the bed and getting to his feet.

"It doesn't work like that, Peter," Paige sadly informed him. "You and Henny aren't supposed to have powers."

"It not fair!" Peter shouted, tottering out of the room.

Paige turned to Billie and continued to bounce Samantha, "I think the terrible twos are coming in early by about five months. I'm going to have to have Henry have a little one-on-one session on what it is to be a mortal." She took a deep breath and asked, "When's the next time you're meeting with Cameron?"

"I told him I would have to catch up with him in a week or so. I want to make sure that everything is going okay in the house with the kids and such," Billie explained. "All time isn't going to waste though as I've been researching some things about sorcery and I'm learning a lot. I just haven't found anything on how to embrace my inner sorceress if there is in fact an inner sorceress to embrace."

"Well, I'm no longer packing twins, so I'll go to the Heavens soon," Paige pouted. "The bad side about doing that is that the Elders are probably going to assign me overtime for my lack of activity. The lovely downside of being the Witchlighter." She gazed at the daughter in her arms and kissed her on the forehead for no apparent reason.

Paige sat down and grabbed Samantha's bottle, putting the rubber teat in-between the girl's lips where she instantly began to suck the milk. The mother turned back to Billie and said, "I'll give Peter about five minutes to himself and I'll call Henry after the girls are fed."

"Sounds good," Billie replied, already in the process of feeding Sarah.

**(X)**

Nomed sat in his lair and his minion approached him with a stone bowl. The upper level demon's face was scarred and looked very ghastly with his death white skin. Across his cheeks were nasty gashes that looked even more frightening when matched with the violet stained eyes.

"Nomed, are you positive?" The minion asked as he handed the bowl to his master. "It's already ruined your appearance."

"I'm not entering beauty pageants! I'm simply trying to eliminate two very dangerous forces of Good that have it in their power to defeat demons in a couple of decades. Those two were very powerful, but they didn't have the power to destroy me," Nomed explained.

"And that is because you are an upper level demon right now," the minion explained, watching Nomed drink his concoction again. "If it wasn't for the potion, I would think that they would've had the power to destroy you." He took the bowl from Nomed and moved back to his table where all his potion tools were stationed.

"That's possibly true, but the fact that I kept drinking the potion is proof that I should keep it going," Nomed said, taking a shallow breath. "I'll need to find a way to distract the Witchlighter from her twins though if I'm to make an attack."

The minion made his best efforts to think of a plan to impress his master. Once he thought of a possibility he took a couple of steps closer to Nomed, "Perhaps you can use the son she's adopted as a tool in some form."

Nomed grinned, "I like that. For over a year, I studied the Charmed Ones with the intention to have them destroy the Triad. I knew they were on the edge of returning and I had to make sure they were defeated. They were going to come back with more and more power..." the demon growled and clawed his nails against the stone throne he sat on. The power gave him enough strength to leave terrifying scrapes against the stone which expressed his anger.

"I've heard stories of the troubles the apprentices of Triads had to endure," the minion commented. "I could never survive it."

"Certainly not," Nomed stated. "I no longer wish to discuss that, but I do have to say that using young Peter is a rather brilliant plan. I made a note about the Charmed Ones using the inspiration of a demon to defeat a mortal enemy and I believe we can use the same inspiration here. We can tap into the power of the Demon of Fear and use him to scare the boy. By giving him some frights to cry to Paige with, she'll be torn between where to provide her attention."

"By using the inspiration of Barbas, you are aware that you are in fact calling his power, aren't you? This might give him enough power to eventually escape purgatory," the minion warned.

"And so what? Barbas doesn't attack demons. He goes for witches. We can only benefit from him," Nomed defended, rising from his throne.

"Yes, but Barbas' mentality has grown corrupt over the years. He has the ulterior motives of gaining power and acting in accordance to vengeance as opposed to just preying on people's fears," the minion commented.

"Who cares?!" Nomed shouted. "Barbas isn't my concern, calling upon his power to scare the little boy is. I'm going to go and find proper materials for the ritual I have in mind." In a burst of flames mixed with rings of purple lightning, Nomed vanished.

**(X)**

Henry sat at his desk in his office going through a spreadsheet of past criminal activity from the latest parolee he'd been charged with supervising. Spread across his desk were several other records and sheets to be filed, along with a mug of black coffee to keep himself awake. Having twins screaming through the night was taking a toll on both parents, Billie, and even Peter.

The mortal returned to his spreadsheet and saw that his new parolee was turning eighteen in five weeks so he'd be able to let him go with one last warning before having to resort to an actual arrest. The phone rang and Henry checked the caller I.D to see that it was coming from his house. Without wasting another second, he picked the phone up from the receiver and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Henry, it's me," Paige responded on the other line.

"Is everything alright?"

"The twins are fine, but Peter needs to have a chat with his father; that's you. He had a little outburst earlier about not having powers at the mention of the twins getting theirs," Paige explained.

"The girls showed signs of powers?" Henry asked, both thrilled and frightened.

"No, they didn't. Billie and I were just chatting about them _eventually_ coming into their powers and Peter was listening and he now wants some of his own," Paige said, taking a deep breath. "It's too bad I can't just _give_ him powers."

"He's not meant to have powers," Henry commented. "Neither was I. I learned that when I tried to kill you on your birthday."

"Not the fondest of memories, but I remember that. I'm just calling you to let you know the type of talk you're in for when you get home," Paige said. "Get back to work though so you can come home early and see your kids."

Henry grinned, rolling up the sleeves of his brown dress shirt as he balanced the phone on his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm dying to see them. But, yeah, I do have some things going on here so I have to get back to that."

"Alright, just keep me posted on when you're coming home. Bye," Paige said.

"Bye." Henry said back, placing the phone on the receiver. He took a deep breath as he thought about his foster son and the troubles he must be going through. This urged him to work faster.

**(X)**

Paige walked into her bedroom and scanned the room for Peter. She had already sensed he was in this room with the bond they shared, but she couldn't figure out if he was hiding under the pillows on her bed or under the bed itself. She wryly smiled, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

She walked over to the bed and picked up the pillows from the bed and her foster son wasn't underneath them. She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, knowing that Peter might see it. "If you're not up here, you must be..." She quickly dropped down to the floor and saw that Peter was hiding underneath the bed. Their eyes met and she gently asked, "Can you please come out from under there, Peter?"

"No!" A defiant Peter responded. "I no wants too."

"Peter, we have to talk about this. Just please come out," Paige gently requested. She held out her hand under the bed, hoping Peter would take it. She saw he was just staring at her hand and tempted, "Maybe if we had cookies?"

"I no wants cookies!" Peter shouted.

"Peter, if you don't want to come out, that's alright for now, but calm down," Paige warned, not having to use that tone often with him. "Do you mind if we talk about it here?"

"Fine," the boy accepted.

"Okay. So what are you mad at?" Paige asked, wanting him to voice it.

"My sistahs gets powars and I don'ts. I wants some of my own," Peter sadly said. "It not fair, it not fair!"

"Not everyone needs powers to be special. Henny doesn't have powers or Uncle Leo and you find them very fun and caring," Paige said. "Leo teaches young kids with magic and he doesn't even need powers of his own to have them look up to him."

"But still..." Peter whined. "Magic is cool and I want to fly aways like you."

"Magic isn't only cool though, Peter. It can be very hard and it makes you take time away from your family," Paige explained. "I love you, I love Henny, and I love your sisters and magic will often want me to go help other people instead of playing with you guys. Do you understand that?"

"I would help persons if I had powars," Peter commented, his voice gently quivering.

"I'm sure you would, sweetie, but there's nothing I can really do about it," Paige sadly informed. The sound of both twins crying along with Billie calling for Paige made the Witchlighter's head jolt back, sending her brown hair flying behind her shoulders. She quickly looked back under the bed and said, "Peter, I got to go see what's going on with your sisters, but when I come back, you need to come out."

Peter watched as Paige's face vanished from sight as she rose to her full height and watched her feet as she walked away. The thought came to mind that his foster sisters were now getting all the attention as he was left alone under a bed.

**(X)**

Paige entered the children's room and saw Billie bouncing Samantha as Paige reached into the crib to sweep up Sarah. She rhythmically bounced her daughter and said to Billie, "They just ate, I wonder what they're crying about."

"Beats me," Billie said, continuing to rock Samantha. "This is really taking time from me researching fairy guards."

"You scared me though when you called for me. I thought a demon attacked or something," Paige admitted.

"Don't be so paranoid, they're fine," Billie stated.

Both twins began to settle down and Paige grinned at her daughter. "I know every mother says so, but I think my daughters are the cutest." She turned to Samantha and maintained her grin. "And I get to experience twice the cuteness."

"No kidding," Billie said. "I would feel inferior to you if I had a child that had to beat your girls' good looks."

"Don't you go thinking about having a kid anytime soon. We got enough people in this house and then with Christy possibly coming, we're lacking enough room as it is," Paige said. "Speaking of, how are you holding up with knowing she's most likely out there and you're forced to sit back and wait to tap into some power?"

"Roughly put, but as crummy as possible," Billie said. "I just want to at least know if she's safe or not. I do feel a little less guilty for killing her though, I have to admit."

"Good, because that is a burden you shouldn't have been carrying in the first place. I just hope that when she blew up, she lost the memories of her evil ways because if she's still evil... Well, you know," Paige said, turning down to the floor at the thought.

"I don't have it in me to vanquish her for good. I don't think I would have it in me to attack her," Billie replied, noticing that Samantha was falling asleep. "If we were to go at it, Jenkins versus Jenkins, she would be the victor by forfeit."

Paige gently swayed Sarah back and forth and gently brushed the little amount of light brown hair on her head, "Billie, if you forfeit, you die. I guarantee you, when we find out where she is, I will be there right beside you and there is no way I would let her kill you. Maybe we can come up with something to help her see the light, as lame as that sounds."

"I do feel as if I'm getting closer though, Paige. Something inside me, something that I can't identify tells me that I'm close to finding her. Maybe it's that inner sorceress that Cameron keeps ranting about," Billie assumed. She noticed Samantha was fully asleep now and she gently placed her in the crib.

"Maybe he's right," Paige said, moving over to Billie and handing her Sarah. "I won't delay this any further and I'll go up to the Heavens right now and see if the Elders know anything. One twin is down, Peter is keeping to himself under the bed, and I trust that you can take care of Sarah. Just call me if anything goes wrong."

"Of course," Billie replied, smiling down at Sarah. "Do you mind if I call Cameron over to give him the news?"

"I don't mind. It's been a while since I last saw him anyway," Paige commented. "I will have to see him when I get back though." She folded her arms and vanished in a series of orbs that shaped themselves around the curves of her body.

"Cameron," Billie called, slightly above a whisper.

Quicker than usual, a long stream of black particles appeared into the room and quickly spun around to form the shape of the familiar mercenary. The particles came together and Cameron appeared with his hand out and he quickly generated an energy ball.

"Whoa, whoa!" Billie said, taking a couple of steps back. "What's going on?"

Cameron scanned the room and clapped his free hand into the energy ball, throwing the energy away. "I thought you were in trouble. _Especially_ since you whispered, I thought you were hiding out from a pack of demons or something."

"No demons in here. Just two cute babies," Billie commented. "I just wanted to let you know that Paige just went to go speak with her bosses about this sorceress thing."

Cameron leaned back against the wall, slightly still on edge. "That's something, although I doubt the Elders will be of any use. Are they ever?"

"Yeah, I'm not really popular with working with them, but the sisters have told me some stories. There was this one time that..."

"Demon!" Peter cried out from the other room, cutting off Billie.

Billie's hazel eyes widened as Cameron's grays showed him the doorway and he ran out. He charged to where he heard Peter and saw the one year old running out of his foster parents' bedroom. Cameron ran past him and into the room where he didn't see anyone, let alone a demon. He continued to look around and began to mentally scan the room for an extra presence or some sign that a demon possibly teleported away. "Nothing," he muttered.

The blond mercenary exited the bedroom and made his way back into the children's room where he leaned against the archway, "No one was there." He looked down at Peter who was hugging Billie's leg and asked him, "Are you sure a demon was there?"

"Yes," Peter replied, aggressively nodding his head up and down.

"Why would you question him?" Billie asked, placing Sarah into the crib next to her now crying sister. Billie crouched down and looked at Peter in his brown eyes, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"The demon was scary," Peter said.

"Can you describe him?" Cameron asked.

"Cameron! What are you doing?" Billie questioned, hugging Peter and glaring at the mercenary.

"I just wanna know so I can start tracking him down," Cameron lied. He walked closed to Billie with folded arms. "I scanned the room and I didn't sense anyone."

"Maybe they shimmered away," Billie guessed, rubbing Peter's hair around.

"I don't think I would be accusing a one year old if I didn't have the power in me to eliminate that option, thank you very much," Cameron replied and looked down at Peter. "I think someone is crying 'Demon'." He grinned and looked at the twins, "It would make sense, wouldn't it?"

Billie continued to hug Peter, but gently turned to him as she pondered the possibility of him lying.

**(X)**

Paige stood across from Sandra in the eternally misty Heavens and the Elder was in her usual white robe with the brilliant gold pattern falling down the center. The white folded collar showed clearly as Sandra rose her neck to assume her natural pose of a high head. "Interesting attire, Paige."

The Witchlighter looked down at her white sleeveless shirt along with matching slippers. Although this was ordinary for someone in their own home, Paige figured that Sandra was targeting the black pajamas with the patterns of white ducks all around. "What can I say? I'm a mother and I make sacrifices for my children, even if that means sacrificing the opportunity to wear something nice to please Peter."

"Speaking of, I wish you personal congratulations on the birth of your twins," Sandra said with a grin.

"Thanks. Before I jump into what I orbed here for, I have a question. Why is it that only daughter came out in a ball of orbs while I had to nearly die pushing the first one out?" Paige asked, bearing the thought on her mind since the birth.

Sandra pondered for a second and said, "It might possibly be because of some encoding of magic. It's possible that since these girls came from a mortal along with a mother who is both witch and Whitelighter, there were too many factors in deciding what powers they would hold. I would presume that maybe magic thought it best to split the powers."

"That doesn't sound very fair to them," Paige said. "I would think they'd be stronger since they were born on the first day of the Gemini. Get it? Sign of the Twins, I _had_ twins... You following?"

"You may be correct, Paige, but it was just an idea I thought I would entertain you with. Now what is it that brings you here?" Sandra asked.

"I need you to tell me what you know on anything that can relate to Billie possibly becoming a sorceress," Paige stated. "This all ties in with finding her sister so I need to help her out."

"Do you really think you should venture out to find Christy? Are you personally content with Billie's decision or would you personally prefer Christy lost, Paige?" Sandra asked, maintaining her stance of a high head and hands that were folded under her robe.

"Billie wants her sister back and I wouldn't deny her that. Do you know something that I don't?" Paige asked. "Be honest."

"We are under the knowledge that Billie has been working with a member of the Phoenix coven to help her find answers. The High Priestess, Annabelle Hawke, has been sending her best members around to help Billie obtain these answers to the best of their ability since they hold no ties with any profound power. We Elders on the other hands are informed of destinies from the Angels themselves and I can confirm that Billie is in fact more than a witch," Sandra explained.

"So how do I help her out? How do I guide her to become a sorceress?" Paige eagerly asked.

"Doesn't this strike you that Billie is to become a sorceress? I would think you would have other questions as opposed to helping your charge automatically embrace this culture with the knowledge of sorcerous powers coursing through her veins," Sandra admitted, concerned. "I think it is too blame on a possible misconception of the risks of being a sorceress."

"Sorry, I kinda spent my Charmed years vanquishing a greater ratio of demons than sorceresses," Paige quipped. "Could you give me the cliff-notes of what I should know? I'm in a rush as I left my three children with a witch and an assassin."

"Sorceresses can be led to evil easily because of the tools they must use for sorcery. Finding benign sorceresses, or sorcerers for that matter, in this age is extremely rare because a call for magic of all sorts is strong for them. Having this magic inside of them is also what produces a stronger being. In Billie's case, this is what made her strong enough to be labeled as an Ultimate Power. It's no doubt that the sorceress within her granted her this ability to grow with until a point where she would eventually grow into far more than a witch," Sandra explained, knowing she was reaching out to Paige. "Billie has a history of being influenced by her sister. Imagine the dangers of Billie falling under the same trap, but stronger and possibly beyond recovery once she craves black magic."

"So by helping Billie find Christy who may still be evil, I might actually be reuniting a powerful duo with more black magic on their side?" Paige rhetorically asked. "See, I have an issue with that theory because I believe Billie has changed. She's wiser than before, she's learned from her mistakes, and she would rather die than team up with an evil Christy."

"Paige, this will be your call. I won't deny you the information you seek because of my views on the matter, but I do ask that you give this some thought before handing over the information to Billie. If these two come together, they could be unstoppable," Sandra informed, fearing that Billie might fall under Christy's influence once again, but for good this time.

"I know how powerful they are. They vanquished a demon who was supposed to be unvanquishable, but imagine if we had that power on our side. We could do so much good," Paige defended.

"Two sides to every story, Paige. I just hope that you have it within you to possibly show Christy the nature of a good witch, but I assure you, it will be some time before we can grant her a Whitelighter or even assign you to her. She still has to withstand some fault for her actions and we can't trust giving her a Whitelighter after her connection with the Triad for so long," the Elder explained. "It'd be terrible if Evil had some source of information on the activity that happens up here."

"We'll get there when that time comes," Paige said. "I gotta run this with Billie though and I promise you, there will be no hasty decisions."

"_Paige?!" _Billie's voice echoed through the heavenly halls.

"Speak of the sorceress," Paige shrugged her shoulders and quickly nodded at Sandra. "Thanks again." She orbed away.

**(X)**

Paige orbed into her children's room where she was welcomed by two crying twins, Billie holding Peter, and the glare of a Phoenix. "What's going on?"

"Peter saw a demon in your bedroom," Billie answered, rubbing the little boy's back.

"Or Peter says so at least," Cameron commented, raising his eyebrows at Paige.

"I'm sorry, but you don't know me well enough to come into my home and tell me my child is crying wolf," Paige stated, her cheeks flushing as she moved over to Billie. She requested Peter with open arms and soon had the little boy clinging onto her. "Any idea why the twins are crying?"

"Just got scared I think with the yelling," Billie guessed. "Why do you think a demon was here?"

"What I want to know is why is he after Peter. He's just a boy," Paige commented, setting Peter down on the floor and lowering herself to eye level. "Did the demon say anything to you, Peter?"

"No," Peter answered, staring at the floor.

"At least you're okay," Paige said, rising back to her feet. "I'm going to go and check the Book of Shadows and see if there is anything useful that can help me track a demon."

"I'm useful and I can track demons," Cameron informed, raising his hand. "The only problem would be that there was no demon to track. I tried sensing if they vanished because I was coming and nothing. I didn't even get a little whiff of detection."

Although Paige wanted to defend her foster son, she wanted to absorb some of what Cameron was saying. "I don't want to say anyone is lying, but I think since this is a magical problem, I'm entitled to use some magic to help me figure out what's going on here." She looked at her daughters, "_After_ I tend to the twins."

Paige moved over to the crib and reached in for Samantha as Billie reached in for Sarah. Cameron stared at Peter and already sensed that Peter didn't see a demon. The mercenary also reached some dim thought in Peter's mind which involved lying again to get more attention.

**(X)**

Nomed appeared in his lair in an assortment of black fireworks and violet flames. The fireworks were letting off loud cracks of energy as the flames created a great brushing sound. The sound alone caught the attention of his minion, but the demon spoke in a manner that was louder than his arrival, "I found a way to tap into Barbas' power. I had to bruise up a couple of sorcerers to get the information, but I was successful."

"What do you need of me?" The minion asked, moving over to his wide selection of items.

"Three black candles from the West of the Underworld to create a triangle of fear and it must be ignited by me," Nomed instructed, watching his minion collect three black candles. "They also said that it works best if I use traditional things in which people fear, such as spiders. I'll need enough to fill the space in-between the candles."

The minion set down the candles on the ground, equidistant from each other. He went into an old cupboard where there were imp ears spoiling in filthy water, large tongues wrapped inside plastic, clear boxes of black widows inside, as well as other tonics and potions. He pulled out two boxes of black widows and he opened them inside the triangle of candles.

The minion smiled at his little pets, showing off his slimy black teeth, and he traced his skinny finger around the triangle. He instructed, "Keep to these lines..." He removed his hand and the venomous black widows with red markings on their backs began to walk around the triangle in a cycle.

"This should do," Nomed said, holding up his index finger and shot off a flickering violet flame. The flame made contact on the wick and the violet flame began to dance around. The upper level demon repeated the process for the other two candles and kneeled before it. He closed his eyes as he searched for the power of astral projection within him and grinned when he found it amongst his vast abilities. "I simply project myself in here now and the power of fear will play to my needs."

Nomed remained silent as he left his body, but the strength the demon gained kept him balanced on his one knee. The astral projection appeared within the triangle in a great red glow and the projection remained silent for the moment as the demon smiled. "Peter, Peter, Peter..."

**(X)**

In her altar room, Paige flipped the pages of her Book of Shadows as Peter sat in a chair looking through his coloring book. Paige looked up at Cameron who was staring at Peter. She rolled her eyes and saw Billie enter.

"The twins are protected and sleeping," Billie breathed out, brushing her bangs to the side. "While we have this moment of peace, think you can fill me in on what the Elders told you?"

Paige didn't look back up from the Book as she passed the entries of Grimlocks, the Water Demon, Podero Maximo, and said, "We're going to have to have a little chat about that later." She continued to leaf and said through gritted teeth, "I can't find anything."

"Why do we have to wait?" Cameron asked.

"Because a demon appeared to my son," Paige reminded, slamming the midnight blue tome closed in frustration. "Once that's been dealt with, we can discuss what I found out over tea and biscuits." She walked around the podium and said, "I'm going to check on the girls quickly and then I'll write up a spell of my own."

As Paige began to walk out, a projection of Nomed appeared only to Peter in a red flash. The ghastly looking demon growled softly, gaining Peter's attention. Peter shouted and his fear of the demon before him made Nomed's projection even stronger. His violet eyes resonated a powerful glow as the growl increased in volume and sounded more like a monster of some sort. Nomed's nails expanded into blade-like claws that were coming straight for Peter.

Peter fell out of his chair in fear and shouted again, not noticing Paige, Cameron, and Billie looking down on him. "Demon! Demon!" He began to crawl away until he was swooped up by Paige. He clung onto her neck and buried his head into her shoulder.

"Peter, there's no demon," she told him, bouncing him and scanning the room.

Cameron continued to look around the room and tried to find an unseen force of magic. When he couldn't, he turned to Billie and said, "Told you. As soon as she mentioned the twins, he said he saw a demon."

"It could just be some fright or paranoia," Billie defended.

"I agree," Paige said, bouncing Peter. "Don't worry, sweetie, I got you. No one's going to touch you."

A new sound broke into the house and they heard what sounded like a powerful wind whistling accompanied with a tinkling sound in the depths of the gale. Everyone looked at each other confused and Cameron took lead.

"I'll go check it out," he informed, walking out of the altar room. The mercenary was also pleased to get away from the crying twins and the boy who was either really paranoid or a liar.

He walked through the hallway and turned into the children's room where a young man with chestnut brown hair stood there in a black leather vest with a gray shirt underneath. He stood beside the twins and he then turned towards Cameron and quickly reached for the dagger in the pocket of his gray jeans. "You?" The young man asked, glaring at the mercenary opposed from him with his brown eyes.

"Yeah. Me. Now who the hell are you?" Cameron held out his hands and in a pale yellow glow, his sai dagger conjured into his hand to defend himself.

Paige walked into the room with a potion in hand. She stared at the visitor and switched to Cameron. "Wait..." she walked ahead of Cameron and stopped. "He's not a demon."

Peter from the future nodded and revealed his boyish grin. It was a grin he seemed to have adopted from Henry and Peter said, "Hey, Mom."

Paige dropped the potion which nearly reached the floor and could've easily taken her life. Her life was saved by the impressive reflexes of the Phoenix and he handed it back to her. Paige thanked him with a nod and she turned back to her future foster son. "Peter?"

Peter nodded and said, "We can get more into this later, Mom, but a demon is coming here any second now." The armed mortal looked down at the crib where he saw his sisters sleeping. He looked back and forth around the room, awaiting his opponent.

"Who's coming to attack Peter?" Paige asked, concerned.

"You'll know soon, let's just get the girls out of here," Peter suggested, about to reach in when he heard a disturbed crack of lightning fall under the sounds of roaring flames. Everyone turned their attention to the corner of the room where Nomed appeared.

The demon was stunned to see three people in the room, excluding his targets.

"You?! I thought you died!" Paige shouted, lifting her arm to send him flying.

Nomed was quicker as he unleashed an orange energy ball before Paige could even utter his name. The energy ball crashed into the Witchlighter and sent her flying out of the room. The demon turned around to see Peter charge him with his knife and quickly lifted his hand to telekinetically toss Peter over the twins' crib and into the cushioning landing of toys.

The power imbued demon made his way for the crib when he felt three energy balls plow into his chest, knocking him back.

"You forgot me," Cameron said, taunting the demon before him as he twirled his sai and generated another energy ball. He quickly fired it off and charged Nomed at the same time.

It was difficult to find a way to defend himself for both, so Nomed deflected the energy and attempted to take down the Phoenix with it. Cameron rolled past it and as he rose back up, he drilled his sai upwards through Nomed's leg, staining his dagger with black and red blood. Still below the waist, Cameron conjured his twin sai dagger and stabbed Nomed in the chest with it.

Nomed roared in pain as his flesh was weak from the potion overdose, but his power within made up for that. His body began to glow in a harsh violet tone that even concerned the mercenary. After resonating its glow over Cameron's body, the cultivating power finally released a blast around a short perimeter of Nomed. It was enough to send the mercenary flying over the crib like Peter and he telekinetically removed the sai daggers out of him.

As Peter was getting up, he saw Cameron seconds away from crashing into him and was forced to accept his fate. The blond collided into Peter and knocked him back down to the floor. Peter pushed him off with a hurt arm, "Get off of me!" He saw Nomed take a few more steps to his baby sisters and reached down for his knife. Upon grabbing it, it didn't stay there long as Peter hurled it over the crib at his target.

With no special gesture, Nomed glared at the incoming dagger and telekinetically threw it into a wall. "Who are you?" The demon didn't seem to want his answer as he unleashed a sizzling fireball of normal color. Peter split on the floor and dodged it with style, then proceeded with pushing himself back up and charging the demon with vast powers with only his strength and determination.

As Peter jumped through the air for one of his standard tackles to pin down his opponent, Nomed threw up his hand and entombed the young mortal in a cage of silvery light and suspended him in air. The demon smirked at Peter's agonized screams and telekinetically slammed him into the wall, denting it. Peter's screams were now silenced. Nomed proceeded with walking over to the crib.

The twins had already been crying from all the commotion, but once they saw the ghastly demon standing over them, they were beyond frighten. Samantha happened to roll into Sarah and their bodies joined as one, also connecting them by magic, as they both found the power within themselves to orb away from the danger.

"What?!" Nomed shouted. He looked around to see where they could have gone and held no sign. What he did find was a beyond angry Phoenix glaring him down.

Through gritted teeth, Cameron's fierce grey eyes never left the demon. Without a word, he fired off two neon blue energy balls from his palm which continued to collide into the demon's chest, showing little effect as he adjusted. The Phoenix didn't care as he continued to rage his magical assault to relieve himself of the fury. Sparks continued to explode off of Nomed's chest as a result of all the energy balls.

Nomed raised his arm to attack until Billie came into the room with Paige's potion. Without alerting him of her presence, the witch hurled the potion at him and his body was consumed in flames. She grinned as he roared in pain and vanished from sight. She turned to Cameron and said, "I recall watching him die a couple of days ago."

The sweaty mercenary took a couple of breaths and waved a disregarding hand as he panted from the excitement of it all. "Tend to Paige and her son, I gotta go find the twins."

"Paige is out cold, but Peter is safe in a crystal cage," Billie replied, unaware of the future presence in the home. "Where did the twins go? I'm going to go scry..." she turned on her heel and stopped when Cameron called her back.

"Wait. I can track down their orb trails, you tend to _future_ Peter here," Cameron instructed, pointing down at the knocked out mortal. "I'll be back shortly." His particles disassembled and he soared around in a twister-like fashion before flying through the walls to track down the twins' orb trail before it became too faint to sense.

This left Billie to tend to a scared child and his future copy, as well as an unconscious Paige.

**(X)**

As Henry continued to work through the ordinary process of paperwork, he hadn't expected what happened moments ago. He was surprised by the arrival of his twins on his desk, having to immediately shut the door to better his chances of his coworkers not hearing them. He let them rest their backs on his leather jacket as he used his method of tickling their stomachs to soothe them, although they were too young to feel the full effects of tickling. This was just a familiar method their father used on them and both this and his presence calmed them down.

The mortal wanted to reach for his phone to call Paige, but didn't want to make Sarah think he left her side. His other option was to call out for Paige through shouting, but he was still paranoid someone heard the children crying and were preparing to enter the office at any second. A loud buzzing noise put him off though and he looked all around the room to see where it was coming from.

Black particles spun around the room after coming from the ceiling and formed the mercenary, still panting. He looked at the twins and said, "There they go."

All bets were off with the children crying now. The protective father stood to his feet and ran to the front of the table, blocking them. "Whoever the hell you are, don't think I can't take you just because you're a demon."

Cameron fought back the tempting urge to roll his eyes at the mortal, but he instead breathed, "I'm no demon, nor do I need to be to get your kids away from you." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm and said, "I'm Cameron, it's likely you've heard of me. I just came to make sure they were safe since they fled because of the brawl going on at your house."

"What brawl?" Henry asked, stepping closer to Cameron after trusting him by name. "Is Paige okay? What about Peter?"

"One Peter is knocked out whereas the other is safe," Cameron replied, slightly playing with Henry with the understanding he had no way to know about future Peter coming yet. "Your son's come from the future for God knows what reason, but what do you intend on doing? You going to sit here and work or am I taking you home?"

The mortal didn't know what to say on Peter coming from the future. This was the second time over the past couple of days where a child of his appeared from a time unfamiliar to him. Henry picked up Sarah and asked Cameron, "Mind getting Sam?"

"Yeah, I don't really do children, especially babies. So don't get too upset if I drop her," Cameron warned, walking over to Samantha.

"Forget it," Henry said, making his best efforts to adjust to balancing Sarah on one arm while still holding her head. He skillfully lifted Samantha and balanced her back on the other arm, also palming her head. He held them close to his chest and asked, "Is your teleporting thing like orbing?"

"Hardly," Cameron replied, holding Henry's shoulders as they all exploded into a huge twister of black particles which eventually thinned down, flying out of the office.

**(X)**

As Paige began to regain conscious, she felt someone stroking her hair and she opened her eyes to see Henry standing over her. She grinned and whispered, "Hey." She looked around her bedroom, leading to the thought she was on her bed. She saw young Peter resting on the edge of the bed, seemingly waiting for her to wake up. "Hey, buddy."

"Paigey, yous okay?" Peter asked, scared for his foster mother.

"I'm fine, Petey." Paige pushed herself up and slowly rested against the backboard of the bed after feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. She looked down to find a bandage tapped down to her abdomen. The Witchlighter whistled and looked up at her husband, "Yeah, _that_ hurt a lot. Where are the girls?"

"Billie and Cameron are watching them in their room," Henry answered. "Do you need anything? Something to drink?"

"I need to go vanquish this demon and make sure he stays dead," Paige announced, slowly shifting her legs off of the bed. You stay here with Peter and set crystals around the room like I showed you. I don't want any demons making any plays for you guys." Paige stood up and slowly walked out of the room, holding her bandage in place. She walked down the hall and entered the children's room where she saw Billie hovering over the crib alone. "Where's Cameron?"

"He's in the altar room with older Peter looking through the Book of Shadows," Billie informed after turning around. She looked down at the bandage and asked, "How are you feeling? You were laid out when I saw you."

"Yeah, let's just hope demons don't get their hands on those energy balls. Things could get ugly," Paige commented. "Can you do me a favor of bringing the girls into the room with Henry? And make sure Henry sets the crystal because we know how he likes to be very bravado." She walked out and proceeded into the next room where she saw Peter flipping through the Book of Shadows and Cameron cleaning one of his daggers with a white rag to wipe away Nomed's blood.

Peter looked up and he breathed, "Thank God, you're okay." He walked around from the podium and grinned, "It's not as if I could tell if I messed something up with your life because my existence obviously don't trail back to you, no offense, but I was just starting to freak out."

"Whoa, I may not have given birth to you, but you sure have inherited my rambling gene." She grinned, "Look at you, Peter. All grown up, but I can't help but ask if I've screwed you up in anyway? Let me know now so I can fix that."

"No, you're fine, Mom," Peter informed. "You did well with me and my sisters." He mournfully looked down and fought back a guilty face, "Dad did well too." He turned around to move back to the Book before Paige could inspect his face any further.

"It's so strange hearing you say 'Mom' and 'Dad', considering you're in a rather amusing _Paigey_ and _Henny_ stage, that I never really thought would let up," Paige admitted, folding her arms over her chest. "Then again, it's strange to see you standing before me trying to fight a demon."

"Yeah, well, apparently it's part of my destiny to help destroy this demon. Sam and Sarah did their part and apparently I have to do mine tonight," Peter explained, flipping through the Book of Shadows. "When do you plan on indexing this thing? It's so strange to not be able to find a spell because of a designated color or a potion under another."

Paige let out a light chuckle, "I index my Book? It would make sense considering it's not part Piper's so she can't go ripping them all out. Please tell me I at least use something more than just plastic labels." She slowly walked over to Peter and stood beside him, instantly noticing he was taller than she initially thought.

"Yeah, you color code it in the corner. You'll come around to it," Peter informed. "Now, although you apparently enchanted a page in the Book to inform me to come here today, you didn't tell me how I'm supposed to do it. Any ideas?"

"Not at all," Paige answered. "I was too busy giving birth to the twins to battle him the first time around and too busy seeing stars and chirping birds to fight him this time. How is it that he keeps surviving everything?"

Cameron finally looked up from cleaning his sai and said, "He's harboring a lot of power. Power that isn't even his own. I'm sure that he's been adding to his own abilities with others, especially judging by the way he looked."

"Yeah, he did kinda have a zombie thing going on, didn't he?" Paige commented. "Should we try some mass potion attack? Maybe if we all hit him with one, it'll be enough to vanquish him. I would really like to do this without having to call Piper and Phoebe."

"I think you should bring some ordinary potions," Cameron suggested, cooly walking over to the table and picking up a purple potion. He eyed it and said, "This should do once I'm done with him."

"How are we even going to find him?" Peter asked, retrieving his dagger from the floor. "If you got a way, I'm game."

Cameron smirked as he handed the potion to Paige, "I can follow his scent." The mercenary proudly tapped the blood stained sai dagger dangling from his leather belt.

**(X)**

The minion tended to Nomed's wounds with a cold rag, "Nomed, those powers inside are making your body weaker. I ask that you allow me to build some potion to reverse the effects. Your body can become whole again."

"And I will be weak again!" Nomed spat, his violet eyes burning with rage. He quickly lifted his arm and smacked the minion with great force, throwing him through the air until he abruptly slammed into the solid walls. The minion fell to the dirty ground face first and Nomed walked over to him. He bent over and firmly ordered, "I'm running low on my current batch. You are to make more so I can replenish my strength."

Nomed growled, frustrated that his plans were prevented by that mercenary, witch, and other visitor. "Wait..." the demon almost chuckled. "I thought he looked familiar, even if it was in the slightest. That was the boy from the future. It would make sense since the twins challenged me a couple of days ago. But _still_! I had been building more power in my days of recovery and he was just a mortal! I suppose I'll have to kill the boy as well..." Nomed realized that his minion was probably too injured to pay him the attention he was seeking, but he continued to voice his anger. "I'll need to collect demons to assist me in my warfare."

The upper level demon turned on his heel and walked up the stone steps to vacate the lair. As he passed through the silent tunnel, two different noises began to fill the silence. While one was a serene jingling, the other was a violent humming. The sounds were soon accompanied with orbs and particles which were flying through the cave towards him. He growled at the sight.

The orbs reached the ground and grew in size, forming both Paige and Peter. The particles spun around in an immediate fashion and Cameron materialized. Paige was producing cocky grins as the two men glared at the demon.

"Your impatience will be your downfall," Nomed threatened, producing the same black fireball with golden currents charging around that he used on Sarah days earlier. "How'd you find this place?"

"You stained my knife with your blood," Cameron answer, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head to the side. "Don't leave a trace for a Phoenix to follow you. _That_ was your downfall." Before Nomed could utter another word, Cameron quickly fired an energy ball to collide with Nomed's attack.

The neon blue energy ball came too fast for Nomed to react and it made contact with his deadly sphere of energy. The explosion threw him into the wall, scarring his face further upon contact. He slid down from the floor and snarled at his opponents, firing off deadly bolts of high voltage violet energy.

Paige took ahold of Peter's arm and motioned him down to dodge the attack, allowing it to fly over their heads and strike a hole into the rocky wall. With an impressive cartwheel, Cameron propelled himself over the energy bolt and heard it crash behind him.

Furious, Nomed hovered off of the ground and landed on his feet. He stretched out his arms and allowed several pulses of orange energy shoot from his chest.

Paige kept a firm hold on Peter as the two vanished in orbs, rematerializing behind Nomed. "Nomed!" Paige both alerted him of where she was, as well as forced him into a cloud of orbs. With a quick swipe of her arm, she lifted him into the ceiling. She grinned at her work as she heard Nomed groan from the pain, added with the pain of crashing down to the ground. "You're not looking too shabby, Nomed." The Witchlighter pulled out her potion and walked closer to him, "Anyone who comes after my children, aren't going to survive too long. You meet your end here."

Nomed looked up from the ground after hearing the threat and quickly launched an energy ball into Paige.

Peter turned to his foster mother as she bounced off of her feet and flat on her back. The potion rolled out of her hand as she groaned in pain. "Mom!" Peter shouted, viciously turning to Nomed and ran at him with his dagger.

The demon rose to his feet, hearing the oncoming steps of both Cameron and Peter. He noticed they were both armed with weapons and decided to play it their way. Tapping into his vast powers, he conjured a long sword with a stone black handle and blood red blade. He twirled it over his head before striking down to first defend himself from Cameron. The mercenary's sai daggers clanged against the freshly conjured sword and he continued to strike it in hopes of distracting him for Peter to attack.

Unlike Nomed, Cameron was skilled with his weapon and wasn't just wielding his blades in hopes to even the odds. The mercenary continued to press forward with his striking attempts, succeeding in forcing Nomed into a defensive position.

Peter quickly came behind as he realized Nomed currently was in no position to make any attempts with his sword was better off without it. He twirled the dagger around before plunging it into Nomed's neck, immediately setting off a ripple of sonic eruptions inside the demon.

The mortal from the future grinned at the success of his enchanted dagger. He would be sure to compliment Samantha on succeeding in a witchly enchantment when he returned to his time. "Back up!" He shouted to Cameron, already taking steps back to avoid what he was expecting.

Cameron jogged back, but not too far. He knew he was capable enough to particle out in the case a rapid vanquish flew his way, but if it didn't follow, he had to be close to execute his plan.

Nomed's eyes glowed a harsh gray as the brutal winds of the Underworld seemed to enter the cave to witness a vanquish. The wind flapped Peter's short bangs past his forehead as the young man stared at the demon. Nomed roared in pain, holding his chest as the sonic waves continued to strike him from the inside, allowing some of the sonic waves to whisper out. Nomed intensely closed his fists, feeling his nails dig into his palms, as he tapped into his power to attempt to get rid of it.

"What's going on?!" Peter shouted over the winds, turning to Cameron. "Why isn't it working?"

"It's your knife, how am I supposed to know?" Cameron asked, glaring at Nomed. "So is he supposed to blow or what?"

"He's _supposed_ to!" Peter shouted, noticing that Nomed was fighting against the effects.

"Go check on Paige, I got this!" Cameron shouted, dematerializing his sai daggers as he sprinted towards Nomed. He knew this was going to be a risk considering how powerful Nomed was, but he had to protect them. Before Nomed could fully rise back to full stance, he thrust his right arm into Nomed's back, phasing through his body and canceling all his magic from the inside. Blue lights continued to run up his arm before he finally succeeding in canceling the magic. Both the demon and Phoenix fell to the floor, weak.

Peter rushed to Cameron's side after seeing Paige was breathing. He dropped to his knees and asked Cameron, "Are you alright? What happened?"

Cameron pressed his palm against his forehead and breathed, "Too... much... dark magic. It was... overwhelming." This was the weakest Cameron had been in a long time, drained of most of his energy after temporarily disempowering Nomed.

"It's alright, you'll be fine," Peter assured. "I can't promise the same for Nomed." He turned around and didn't see the demon on the ground, only his dagger and his mother who was rising up.

**(X)**

Nomed's invisibility began to die down as he finished crawling into his lair. His body flickered and he let out a cough. He whispered to his minion, "More power..." He weakly dragged himself down the stone steps and looked up at his minion. "I need... more."

The minion sped to him and asked, "What happened?"

"There's a... Phoenix out there. He... cancelled most of my magic..." Nomed coughed tainted black blood onto the minion's muddy boots. "I had _enough_ to get away." He pointed to the cauldron with a now scrawny finger. After his magic was put on pause from the inside, it took a great toll on his body as he had been depending on it to survive for so long. His features were far worst from when he held all of his abilities.

"Hold still," the minion advised, rushing to the cauldron. In a small ladle, he cautioned his steps to make sure none of his potion spilled as he lowered himself down on both knees. He moved the ladle to Nomed's chapped lips and fed it to him like a father to a child.

Nomed violently coughed and clutched at his throat, "What's happening?" He felt a powerful sensation rising from inside him as he vomited all the powers he had consumed. The blast of golden, white, and gray lights floated in the air above him as his violet eyes returned to normal. "What did you do?!"

"You had to be stopped. I fed you a potion to banish the abilities from your unwilling host," the minion admitted. "Your crave for power would've eventually matched that against the Hollow's and I couldn't be responsible for that." With a gentle wave, he telekinetically tossed the powers out of the lair. "You were close to succeeding, but you were only going to bring outraged witches to endanger my life as I'm sure you'd have been willing to sacrifice me." He grinned and some of the black slime on his rotten teeth began to trickle to his bottom lip. "I don't intend to die for you."

Peter ran into the lair after seeing the lights pass by him and he held his dagger up. He looked up at the minion and held his arm back to throw it, but the minion shimmered from sight. The mortal jogged down the steps and held the dagger to Nomed's neck, staring into his now visible eyes. "It looks as if we're at an even playing field now." He pressed the cold blade closer to the powerless demon's neck and grinned.

"Kill me then..." Nomed whispered, able to find the ability to speak easier without the power storage. "Do you have it in you to kill me knowing I'm currently weaker than you? Almost the equivalence of a mortal?"

"Let's just say that I don't take well to your kind," Peter growled, plunging the knife into Nomed's neck. He glared as Nomed's eyes nearly bulged out from the shock and remained open as he died. The mortal looked down as Nomed wasn't erupting in flames, showing that there wasn't even enough power left in him to carry him to the Wasteland. He didn't think much of it as he slid his dagger out of Nomed's neck and rose to full height, eyeing the lair, completely unaware that Paige had been watching him all along.

**(X)**

Ten minutes after leaving the Underworld, Paige orbed back into the children's room. She saw Billie standing across from the twins who were just watching the mobile spin around. In the blonde's hands was a sheet of paper with Billie's handwriting all over it. "Alright, I'm back."

Billie turned around and looked at Paige's abdomen, "Great. I see you got someone to heal you."

"Yeah, I got my fans Up There. Now whatcha got there?" Paige asked, placing her palms on her waist.

"I finally managed to set everything up for the magical fairy guards," Billie answered, waving the sheet around. "Once I conjure them, they'll act more as spirits that help protect them through their lives until they hit their teen years. Then their magic will be recycled for someone else who needs protection."

"Thanks for the recap," Paige said, moving closer to read the paper over Billie's shoulders. "I never got to do it with Wyatt since once we had the Wiccaning, we couldn't do it anymore since that's apparently the ultimate blessing. I guess this just helps ensure the girls will be okay."

"I'm sure they will be, especially with the way they orbed away from danger today," Billie commented, then turning to the paper. "Alright, here we go." With one hand on the crib, Billie instantly formed a connection with the girls which was required for the summoning.

_I call upon spiritual guards requesting you to accept,_

_I present to you, Sarah and Samantha Matthews, watch them through their ways,_

_And please protect._

Out of thin air, two glows of green and blue appeared hovering over Samantha and Sarah. The glows formed into fairies in dresses of their respective colors with curly blonde hair. Like the twin girls, these fairies were identical in features and they giggled at the twin girls. Sarah's blue-gowned fairy glided down and poked her nose before turning to Billie and nodding, showing her acceptance as Sarah as her charge for years. Samantha's spiritual guard aggressively nodded as well.

"Thanks so much," Billie said, as both she, Paige, and the twins watched the fairies vanish in similar glows to when they came. "Now that we got that done, mind if I ask you about this sorceress stuff now?"

"Sure," Paige replied, gently pulling Billie by the arm and sitting down with her on Peter's bed. Off her look she shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, I know, we'll get some more chairs in here. Now, I spoke with them and they were actually advising me to make a decision on whether or not to help you find Christy with your magic."

"Therefore confirming I am growing into a sorceress, but why wouldn't they want me to find Christy?" Billie asked.

"They're concerned that if you reunite with Christy and she finds something to sway you back to her side, assuming she's still bonkers, then you two would be undeniably a great threat to us," Paige answered, resting a consoling hand on Billie's. "I defended you though. I expressed how you've changed for the better, but there is something that concerns me. Although you've grown into a better witch this year, being a sorceress is different. They said you would have an allure to all magic and would even use dark ingredients which can eventually set you on that path. Whether you would want to or not, it's not even my place to say you can assure that you won't touch these ingredients."

Billie stood up and looked out the window with folded arms, "I'm not evil, Paige. I was stupid in choice making last year and I'm big enough to admit that, but why are they making their doubts bigger than they should be? I've read about sorcerers and sorceresses and they're really defined when it comes to their craft. I'm surprised I didn't see it sooner; I came into my powers rather quickly after not having them for decades, I have a _huge_ interest in potions and made myself more than familiar with rare ingredients, not to mention all the extensive knowledge I was _really_ eager to learn in my time at Magic School."

"You're also young, Billie. After I accepted being a witch, I was pretty damn eager to learn some things as well," Paige explained. "I don't think it's so easy to identify a coming sorceress, but I think you just need to be really careful in staying away from sticky, dark, Underworld garbage when it comes to potions and rituals. If you're not interested at putting any risk to anyone, let me know so we can find a way to prevent this from happening, but otherwise, I still need to know so we can figure out how to help you embrace the nature further enough so you can track Christy."

Billie remained silent as she continued to gaze into the night past the window. After a few more seconds she said in a tone above a whisper, "I think I wanna take time to think about this."

"Alright, sweetie," Paige replied, rising from her bed. "I don't mean to put any pressure on you, but don't take too much time as we gotta figure this out before you accidentally tap into it when you didn't want to. Go see Cameron and talk about it." Before she left the room, Paige tapped on the door and said, "Also thank him for being there for us all today. It was a really nice gesture of him, especially considering he's part of the race that tried to kill me a few years back."

**(X)**

Already in mid-conversation in his bedroom, Henry sat across from young Peter as future Peter stood by the doorway. Young Peter was sitting against the backboard of the bed with a pillow behind him for support as he hugged his legs and shamefully stared at the covers. "I'm sowy I lies 'bout deh demon. It just dat my sistahs was getting all deh love."

Henry turned to his future son and asked him, "Do you remember feeling like this?"

Older Peter nodded and took a couple steps closer. "Well, not at this particular age, but I kinda grow an inferiority complex with the girls. No powers and all." He grinned and commented, "I make do though. Check me out, I kicked some serious _butt_ today after getting my _butt_ kicked around. There's pros and cons to being a mortal slayer."

Henry stared at older Peter, still finding it bizarre that although this was his son, they shared no resemblance. It was clear Peter didn't come directly from him, but this was always something he had a concern for since taking Peter in; watching his only son grow up to look nothing like him, making him feel slightly empty in that area of father fulfillment. "Any idea on what I should say?"

"Just see where it takes you," older Peter replied, tucking his hand into his pocket. "You might surprise yourself."

Henry repositioned himself on the bed and eyed Peter, "Look, Pete, you just gotta understand that your sisters are babies. Me and Paigey have to take more care of them at the moment because they aren't capable of doing it themselves. We have to feed them, we have to dress them, we have to put them to sleep and those are all things you know how to do on your own because you're a big boy."

Older Peter truthfully didn't give Henry advice as it had been a while since he heard his foster father speak to him, scold him, or anything, so he figured he'd experience that again, even if it was directed at his younger self. This was also a particular conversation he wanted to relive.

"But... dey also has powars! How come I can'ts have powars?" Young Peter asked, proving older Peter's statement on the inferiority complex.

"We just aren't meant to play those parts. Your Paigey has allowed us to be a part of her world of magic, but magic isn't who we are. Your Paigey is also really special. She taught me about destiny and I didn't really believe in that before," Henry admitted, grinning at his foster son. "Do you know what destiny is?"

Young Peter nodded his head side to side, "No."

"Well, I think of it like this. Destiny is a place in time where we find out who we are and what our purpose is in life. We'll learn that we are _destined_ to do a certain job and by doing so, we'll be helping people. Paigey's destiny revolves around using magic to make the world a better place, but I like to think that my destiny revolves around helping people without magic. I do think having powers would be cool, but if it's not part of our plans that destiny has for us, there's no need for them. We can do this our own way," the mortal continued to grin as he turned to future Peter. "I would think that doing it the regular way is still pretty promising." He turned back to young Peter and asked, "Do you kinda get where I'm going with this?"

"Yes, Henny," Peter stated, scratching his head. "I still think it would be really cool to has powars."

"I bet," Henry joked. "You also have to promise me that you won't lie about demons again. Demons aren't anything to joke about and Paigey told you already that she took care of the demon you weren't lying about. Just always be honest with us. Okay, buddy?" Henry held out his hand with his palm facing up.

"Okay," Peter promised, giving his foster father a descending low five.

Paige stepped in after listening to the conversation from outside the room and smiled. "So are we punishing him or what?"

Henry turned to Paige and said, "Not this time."

"Fine by me, but let's get this guy safe and home," Paige announced, patting older Peter on his back. "Go say bye to _Peter_." She grinned at her future foster son as he moved closer to younger Peter.

Older Peter approached his one year old self and just brushed his hair around, "Just be good, alright? Things turn out pretty well for the most part." He quickly looked at Henry before leaving the room, no longer making any eye contact.

Paige and Henry briefly looked at each other before Paige went off to follow him for his sendoff.

**(X)**

Paige stood across from Peter in the foyer as he leaned against the staircase railing. As Henry began to descend the stairs, he saw the two and turned to Peter, "Alright, I just put you to bed."

"Very funny," Peter replied, feeling his foster father pat his back as he moved over to Paige. "I guess it's time for you to send me back then." He nervously patted his gray jeans, positive that he couldn't reveal his father's death without risking someone else's death. He had to be quiet, but the son in him was screaming out to change the future.

"Before I do, I'm a little confused. Your sisters paid us a visit three days ago and now you're paying us a visit. I know about this whole Book of Shadows bit, but does this mean I have to write it anytime soon?" Paige asked, wanting to get it right.

"I'm pretty sure you just enchanted it. I think you enchanted it to inform us on certain days because we are more than familiar with the Book and we never once saw those notes until the pages started flipping and your handwriting ran across the page," Peter answered.

"Why didn't I tell you myself?" Paige asked about her future self. Off his silence, she said, "Ah, future knowledge! Yeah, I know, but you can't blame me for trying, although I am assuming the very worst now." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Ready to go back to boast to your sisters, Pete? You were the one that killed the demon after all," Henry joked, smiling. "Powerless at that."

Peter bowed his head down, finding it difficult to face his father and even accept the compliment. "I actually kinda learn that even when you are powerless, you can be way more. You'll be around to watch me grow into who I am now, don't worry about it."

Paige grinned, "I now know how Piper really felt about Chris coming back in time to save the future. You know how much me and Henry love you and your sisters already and if I lost any of you, I'd be the meanest witch around. It's not something I would have the strength to move on from. So what I'm saying is..." she walked over to him, hugging him with a tight embrace. She soon released and stared into his brown eyes, "I look forward to meeting you in the future you helped save."

She moved to the side as Henry came along and shook his foster son's hand before pulling him into a hug, patting him on the back. "Thanks, _son_."

Peter felt the need to cry and the son in him was almost forcing the warning of Henry's death on his lips. "Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Paige grinned and said, "See you in about twenty years, Peter." She unfolded the sheet and chanted the words to send him home:

_Son who came here to protect the Mitchell-Matthews line,_

_Being rewarded with the blessing of returning to your safe time. _

Peter felt the sensation of a warm glow run across his body as he was carried through time and space in the form of spheres of white lights.

"We do well, Paige," Henry complimented their parenting as he wrapped an arm around Paige's shoulders.

"I just can't help but question whether or not we're doing the right thing by apparently raising him as Peter the Demon Slayer.," Paige quipped, but was serious. After seeing him ruthlessly kill a defenseless demon made Paige question whether or not involving him in a world of demons had a toll on his mentality.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked, looking at her.

She shook her head, "Forget it. Let's just go give Billie a break and put our kids to bed."

The two began to ascend the stairs, but Paige would keep her concerns to herself for some time.

**(X)**

Present in his own time now, Peter stood across his twin sisters as he placed the dagger he killed Nomed with on the table in the altar room.

"Well? Don't leave us in suspense, Peter!" Sarah exclaimed, curious about his visit. "Did you kill Nomed and request for him to stay dead this time?" She cocked her head to the side, allowing her light brown hair to fall off of her shoulder.

"Nomed's dead. It was just nice seeing that Dad wasn't," Peter said, moving over to the Book of Shadows to avoid eye contact.

"It must've been tougher on you than it was for us," Samantha said. "Considering..."

"I know," Peter cut her off. "I know." He opened the Book of Shadows before a wind forced itself against the pages, eventually landing on the page where the twins and Peter got the message to go back in time. In Paige's handwriting in black, a message began to write itself across the page and Peter read aloud, "Thank you for protecting the future. Love, Mom."

"I wonder if this was supposed to be some meaning for our existence," Samantha speculated. "Although it wouldn't make much sense to be born to simply make sure that we can be born, but... forget it, I'm only going to confuse myself."

"Dad told me about destiny and how it's just us doing something great," Peter recounted. "I think keeping our family sane and protecting each other is just that. I doubt our destinies are fulfilled, but this won't ever go without notice."

Peter reflected back on when he was one and how he remembered seeing his older sisters come from the future, as well as seeing himself the first day his father taught him about destiny, although he wasn't aware that was his future self. The talk about destiny always stuck with him though and his father's teachings always would.

**End of Chapter.**

**A/Note: Once again, I apologize for the few month hiatus. If you bare with me, you'll have the other chapters lined up released sooner and ten more chapters until the series finale. I hope a couple of you can at least review the chapter with a couple of comments to encourage me to update a bit more. **


	20. Stories Of Our Lives

**A/Note: **Yes, I know, I'm terrible. I have no sob stories, I was really just falling in motivation and wasn't inspired enough to post chapters (20-23) that I had written for months, but they are written so hopefully I can get around to sharing those with you. It's going to be tough, but I'm aiming to complete this series by Chapter 27 as it's been planned out, but we'll see how that works out. Just a little note, some sexual content early in the chapter, it's nothing to get your rocks off with, but just a little warning. Final thing, if there are some poor mistakes, they are more my fault than everything, but still share with me in case I return to edit.

**Chapter 20- Stories of Our Lives**

_**June 4th, 2007**_

Stars blanketed the cool midnight blue sky as a brown comforter blanketed over a couple celebrating both Henry's birthday as well as a night free of their three children. Paige's giggling was the more empowering noise from the current actions under the quilt. Moments later, Henry's shape turned over as he removed the comforter from over his head, exhaling with a grin. He chuckled as he felt Paige digging her way out from under the comforter and appeared with her brown hair sticking to her sweaty neck and shoulders. She remained on her chest as she caressed her husband's fairly hairy chest.

"So was tonight the best birthday present or what?" Paige asked, patting his bare chest. Off his panting and nod, she slapped his chest harder and said, "It feels great to be shaking up these sheets again. I'm positive this mattress was missing this action." She grinned as she made a mental note to change the sheets soon, respecting the fact that their children usually slept in the bed with them.

Still panting, Henry replied as he rubbed his hand against his sweaty forehead, "The doctor said we were supposed to wait six weeks before doing _that_."

"Yeah, well that doctor actually gets paid. Being a mother only pays me with memories, so I couldn't exactly cash that in as a great gift for you," she seductively smiled as she moved closer to rest her head on his arm, "I made up for that though, I think. Was there anything you really wanted?"

"Not necessarily. I was never into presents, really. I think I lost my childhood flare when I was young after having to grow up a little sooner than I was supposed to," Henry admitted, silently reflecting on his difficult childhood. "I think last year was my first time getting excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas in a long time considering how close this family is as well as it being Peter's first Christmas with us."

"That sucks to hear," Paige replied, snuggling closer to her husband. "I was kinda different. I actually lived with the idea that my foster parents were my actual parents and after I learned they weren't, that's when I fell into this whole rebellious stage. That's when I stopped being Daddy's little girl, but I regret ever falling into that phase. I feel like I lost time with them by acting out to piss them off."

The two remained silent as they stared up at the ceiling. Paige's cellphone began to vibrate against the wooden drawer beside her in which she kept her underwear, a notepad, the crystal Billie gave her for her birthday the previous year, an athamae and an emergency vanquishing potion. The flip phone continued to vibrate with seconds apart against the oak top and the Witchlighter finally willed herself to reach for it. She held the blanket up to cover her chest that was bare of everything excluding the sterling silver necklace Henry bought her for Christmas. Paige flipped open the phone and muttered, "It's Piper. Lemme get this real quick." She pressed the proper button and put the phone to her ear and said, "Piper, it's nearing one in the morning. Is everything alright?"

"Please, Paige, I've had to wake you up a lot later for much worst," Piper replied on the other line. "Peter here didn't seem to have his favorite blanket packed with him, so technically this phone call is your fault."

"Wow, you sure are cranky," Paige pointed out.

"Might have something to do with my being able to get to bed much earlier these days," she replied. "Do you think you would be able to orb over with it? He really seems to want it."

"Yeah, give me five minutes. Just meet me in the kitchen alone or something because I'm not about to get fully dressed for a one minute meeting," Paige answered, grinning. "See you then." She hung up and closed the phone, placing it back aboard the oak drawer.

"Is Peter okay?" Henry asked, now wearing a fitting white cotton shirt along with sweatpants, thinking he had to go over and pick up his son.

"Calm down, we don't have to go anywhere. Well, _we_ don't, but I do. I just gotta orb over and bring Peter his blanket," Paige informed. "Then we can come back and continue our conversation that was nearing pretty heavy stuff, if you want." She chuckled and prepared to get dressed as she reached into her drawer. "That was quite a transition we made."

"I'll go downstairs and possibly make the famous Mitchell omelet," Henry suggested, grinning. He rose from bed as he rubbed his palms against each other, eager to cook now.

"I could never deny that," Paige said. "I'll be back in a few." She watched her husband walk off and then began to get dressed.

**(X)**

Orbs carried Paige into the kitchen of her own house as she returned to the smell of an omelet already in the works. Her feet slid out of the gray slippers which matched her sports bra and she walked over to Henry who's back was turned to her, facing the stove. "Peter should have his blanket by now."

The mortal turned around for a brief second before returning to his pan, "Good to hear."

"Oh, and remind me I have a lunch date with Piper sometime this week," Paige requested, taking a seat at the kitchen table as her husband cooked. "She said she has something important she wants to discuss with me."

"When exactly is _sometime_ this week?" Henry asked, still frying the eggs.

Paige shrugged her shoulders, unseen by Henry, "Beats me. Just keep the idea floating in my head." She exaggeratedly sniffed the air and said, "It smells wonderful. I like the idea of heavy talk over omelets at one in the morning."

"Sarcasm?" Henry asked, adding pepper to the eggs to help cook it inside the omelet.

"Not necessarily," Paige answered, folding her arms on the table. "We've been married for a year, dating months before that, and there are things we still haven't filled each other in on. I really want to be able to share everything with you, but a part of me refuses as there are some things you don't share with me."

"I figured this was going to come back and bite me in the..." Henry stopped himself, keeping his back turned to Paige as he was too ashamed to face her. "It's just hard for me... it's hard for me to talk about my life with that _man_."

"Henry, who _have_ you talked about this with?" Paige asked. "I mean... I don't mean to kill a really good day, but there is only so long that I won't get offended by you keeping this from me. The only reason that I let it go for so long is that when we first started dating and you didn't know about the witch thing, I had to keep straying from the truth. I eventually found the courage to share who I am with you and I'm hoping for that same respect."

Henry remained quiet as he turned off the oven. He reached into the cupboard of plates and pulled out two white plates that Paige not only received from Piper, but practiced her telekinetic ability on with Prue. He loaded an omelet onto each plate, collected the proper silverware and moved over to Paige. He placed one plate in front of her and asked, "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah, how about some iced tea with that cold shoulder?" Paige firmly shot back, staring down her husband. "Do you intend on answering me? I've never been pushy with you, Henry. I've never harassed you to let me meet your foster father and I never pushed you to tell me what was this horrible experience you had with that old foster father you ran away from. How long are we going to keep doing this?"

"This is definitely too heavy of a discussion for my birthday," Henry commented, sitting down at the table.

The Witchlighter extended her arm out and pointed towards the digital clock on top of the fridge, "Your birthday ended an hour ago, so that excuse is suspended in time until next year. Henry, you know how much I love you, but I would have to be the most desperate woman to stay married with you for another year without you sharing who you are with me, or more importantly, what you've been through. I'm having enough trouble figuring out who I am and I don't need to put more time into figuring out who my husband is."

Henry remained silent, pressing his fork down in the omelet as he cut off a piece with his knife. He stabbed the piece with his fork, slightly harder than required. He raised it to his lips and ate it, ignoring his wife.

Paige stared in awe. This week had been good, especially Henry's birthday, but the mood seemed to have vanished at the discussion of youth years. She never pushed Henry, but always hoped he would one day pull her to the side with the courage to discuss the hardship he went through. He never did. He always left her out in a mysterious cold, freezing as she wondered the conditions he went through as a child and why it's left his heart so cold in terms of family. She thought she was doing so well with warming it up with her family, but this was a constant block that never seemed to melt.

"Fine," Paige said, slapping her hand down on the table. "Sorry you made the extra plate for no reason." She fastened the black hip hugging shorts around her waist and angrily left the kitchen.

Henry considered chasing after her, but wasn't sure he had the will to discuss the tormenting experiences he went through as a child. He picked himself up, but thought against it and dropped back down. He rubbed the back of his head, brushing his hair up and down. He finally got up from his seat and said, "This is ridiculous." He charged after Paige and didn't see her. If it wasn't for hearing the door slam on the floor above, he would've assumed she orbed off.

He made his way up the stairs and onto the second landing. He inspected the rooms down the hall and saw the bathroom was open, Billie's unoccupied room was open, the children's room was also unoccupied and that left two rooms; the bedroom and altar room. He moved to the bedroom and opened the door, not seeing Paige in sight. He briskly exited the room and down the hall where he entered the altar room, finding his wife.

Paige was flipping through the Book of Shadows with a hunched back and she craned her neck up to look at Henry, "Do you intend to speak now or shoot a couple more silent stares?" Her neck dropped back down as she continued to look through her tome.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked, receiving nothing but silence on Paige's end. "Paige, what are you doing? Paige, _seriously_, you're scaring me with looking through the Book while upset. You're not planning on hexing me or anything, right?"

"If that would've been case, I would've been hearing a frog's croaking as opposed to human speech," Paige sniped, informing him of the threat wandering in the back of her thoughts. She looked back down and continued flipping through the pages. "If I was capable of harming you with magic, I would've just sent a very colorful truth spell your way." She rose back up to full stance and stared at him. "I just don't want anything to come between as we've been managing a pretty stable relationship despite our financial worries and three kids who we may love, but weren't expecting at this point in our lives. We've managed, but this marriage is going to need more than just stability. I need you to start being open to me."

"So how is that Book going to help you?" Henry asked, still concerned Paige might try to act out with magic. This would later lead to concern with his daughters defying him with their magic, knowing he can't do anything.

"I want to see if there is something harmless that can help us out," Paige answered, returning to her research.

"Which means you are planning on using magic on me," Henry stated.

"With your consent of course," Paige replied, aggressively flipping the pages. "I might be an inch over aggravated, but I wouldn't just cast a spell on you." She huffed in her continuing annoyance and she mocked a grin for nearly a second, "That's the respect _I _have for _you_." Paige looked up at her husband and returned to her self-conjured tome and stopped at a page. "This just might work."

"What is it?" Henry asked, glad to hear Paige dismiss her scathing tone.

"We summon a soothsayer," Paige answered, sliding her hand under the red header of the aged page. Along the sides was the illustration of a silhouette constructed of white and red roses, demonstrating a mystical figure. "Piper and Leo used one before, and as long as he doesn't throw us in each other's bodies, he should be able to help us out here."

"Paige, you do realize you're pretty much forcing me into this, don't you?" Henry questioned.

"Henry, you love me, right?" Paige asked, holding her weight by pressing against the Book of Shadows. He assured her with a nod and she said, "Then look... we've made it this far without confronting things we've been through and we're kinda lucky to actually have magic to help us through this. A soothsayer will give us the opportunity to assist each other by comforting... or whatever he can think of. We'll leave it in his hands."

She walked around the podium and approached her husband. She looked down at his hands and gently picked one of his up with both of hers. She encased his fist with a tight grip and her brown eyes remained fixed on the floor, more specifically, Henry's bare feet.

"Paige... I just... I don't want you to see a different man in me after you've learned about the child I was and the child I could no longer be," Henry explained above a whisper, staring at her gentle face with a gaze of his own.

Paige finally willed herself to look up at him and said, "But the child you could no longer be is what shaped you into the man you are and the man I love. If anything, I would only think of you as a stronger man who respects everything his marriage stands for. So whether or not we try to do this now is up to you, but holding this off... I highly doubt it's going to do us any good." She sorrowfully peered in his eyes with a slight tear-clouded vision and said, "We have a family now. We have kids who need us at our best and if I can't even feel comfortable around you, we're not going to be able to pull that off."

Henry put his hand over both of Paige's and said, "Let's do it."

**(X)**

Henry sat alone in the Great Hall of Magic School wondering about his children as Paige walked off to get a book with a summoning spell. The sight of students working this late into the night with concern they wouldn't do well on their assignment or coming test made him think about the conflicts that would come with enrolling Sarah and Samantha to this school and not being able to enroll Peter. Would they all be better off going to a mortal school together? But how was this fair for the twins who might need to learn how to better wield their gifts? He buried his face in his hands as the possibilities continued to run through his mind.

A young brunette with her binder pressed against her chest called out down the hall, "Professor Matthews! I wish you would come back and teach the classes." She stopped in her spot as Paige appeared in a cream-colored skirt and a black sleeveless top with strapped heels to match, looking a little too impressive for a one in the morning Magic School visit, as Henry commented on.

"Oh, sorry, honey. Professor no longer," Paige replied back. "I have three little kids under my care now and it's important that I'm there for them. Not that your education isn't important, but I'm trusting Professor Gallagher can take on the position. How's he working out for you?"

"He's really drilling us to to these past midnight study sessions," the young girl answered. "Now I need my beauty sleep. Good night, Professor Matthews."

As the girl walked off, Paige hollered back, "Just 'Paige' will be fine now, Angela." She walked over to Henry and said, "Sorry that took so long." She pulled a piece of paper out of her skirt pocket and said, "I have the spell to summon a soothsayer."

"Too bad your first spell didn't work. Could've saved us some time," Henry commented.

"Yeah, I guess this spell is supposed to be specific," Paige guessed. "There was nothing in the Book and winging one sucked, but I got what we need here." She waved the paper and unfolded it. "Hopefully this piece of paper is the end to our troubles."

"What exactly is this guy going to do, Paige? He's not going to cast some magic on us against our wishes, is he?" Henry asked.

"We'll just have to see about that," Paige answered, eyeing the spell and chanting:

_Being made of elemental essence, Respond to this call,_

_For you can prepare the answers to all,_

_Solution to troubles is what we yearn,_

_We're prepared to journey and expect to learn._

A couple of feet away from them, a culmination of white and red roses appeared before them in small flashes of their respective colors. The roses began to sway back and forth in their descent as a both gentle and mystic breeze pushed them around. The fragrant flowers gave off their wonderful smell of untouched nature which was never disturbed by the pollution of the world. The powerful scent continued as the roses formed together and in a gentle flash of both red and white, a woman materialized with hair as red as the roses and skin only a few tones darker than the white. Her attire was a pink wavy dress with many ruffles along with a crimson sleeveless shirt. As she fully formed, the roses fell out of their gentle flash and completely fell to the marble floors of Magic School.

"Well, that's new," Paige commented. "And I've seen a lot of things."

The soothsayer stepped over her roses in her tan flip flops and placed her hands together, gently bowing, "My name is Claira. It is to my understanding that you have called on me."

"Yes, we have," Paige said. "Though we were kinda expecting a guy soothsayer."

"To which difference does it make?" Claira replied, pulling apart her hands and lifting her index finger with one. "And you have made two miscalculations; one being that I was a guy and the other being that I am just a soothsayer. To each soothsayer, there are specialties amongst them all. Some guide those in need of search through use of nature as nature is one of the honest things in this world while others are also sages who work through trips through time to better understand history. I am the latter."

"We weren't looking for a trip through time," Henry argued. "Just kinda some counseling."

"What better counseling is there than better understanding what your marital opposite has gone through? These trips are known to never hurt a relationship, but only heal," she turned around at the white and red roses scattered around the floor. "Silly me! I swear I've been at this job for two centuries and I can never seem to remember that I shed with each teleportation."

"It's better than being blown up and leaving an ear behind," Paige replied.

Claira slowly rose her hands as high as her shoulders and the roses began to fly into the air in a near rapid circle. The roses closed in on each other and a pink flash hid them all and when the flash vanished, a bouquet of the roses was hovering in the air, urging for their mother to carry them. The soothsayer grabbed the bouquet, feeling the same love she always felt after doing so. She turned back to the Mitchells and said, "We can always send the roses back to our homely planes, but I prefer to collect them as I'm always sure to use them in my practice."

"So what do we have to do for your _practice_?" Paige asked, resting a hand on Henry's shoulder to comfort him.

"I sensed when you summoned me that I was being called to help strengthen your marriage. Being the sage soothsayer that I am, I can help you better explore each other's past. Answers on questions you may not have answered for yourself will be unveiled during this journey of events," Claira informed, stepping closer to the couple. "You will need to brace yourself in the understanding that there will be no more skeletons in the closets and no more locked doors. You two will be open books post-journey."

"As a married couple should be," Paige commented.

"Not necessarily, Paige," Claira defended. "There are certain experiences in which the husband or wife prefer to keep confidential either because of shame or how terrible the memory is. A married couple should be able to each have their own secrets individually..." she stopped and turned to Henry, "As long as it isn't going to threaten the marriage itself. Here is where I step in. From my understanding, both of you share the same thought that this marriage was rushed and I can go even deeper in my sensing to see it was due to fear of losing one another. The same danger remains here as you aren't being open to each other. My question to you now is if you are ready to go on a quest through time to better strengthen your marriage?"

Henry looked up as Paige as she looked down on him. They both nodded and Henry turned to Claira, "We're ready."

Claira walked even closer to them and she slid two roses of each color out of the bouquet and rested the bouquet on the table. She handed the red rose to Paige and the white to Henry. "Careful of the thorns," she warned, then let off a light chuckle. "Actually, forgive me. I have to ask of you to prick your fingers with the thorn anyway. For your blood, that is."

"I guess a thorn is better than an athamae," Paige said, flipping her rose around like a baton. "But where are we putting the blood?"

Claira pointed to the bouquet on the table and through her natural lips which would never be touched by lipstick that was tested on animals in respect for the very nature of life, she said, "On the collective of flowers here. Nature will be carrying you through this journey in water and wind. As the blood stains the bouquet, the winds will carry you on a journey of growth and understanding. Please proceed now."

Henry turned to Paige as she casually pricked her finger with a thorn on the rose and allowed trickles of blood to fall from her index finger onto the bouquet. Her brown hair was instantly blown back and she vanished in an instant shimmer. He turned to Claira and asked, "What happened to her? Where's Paige?"

"Paige is waiting for you on the other side. Time tends to move differently over there, so I suggest you hurry before your wife grows impatient," Claira warned with a grin.

"Paige is always impatient. Having the power to be somewhere in less than a minute tends to put out a new sense of time for you," Henry commented, gently putting the thorn to his index finger and already feeling it pinch. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he pierced his finger with the thorn and felt his blood drop onto the bouquet beside Paige's. He felt a strong wind press against him and instantly carried him away as he experienced feelings of being lifted off of his feet and thrown around through time; something he couldn't begin to assume when he saw his wife vanish.

Claira grabbed a hold of the bouquet and closed her eyes as her body shone in a mixture of red and white flashes, soon blowing up in a mixture of roses in the same colors.

**(X)**

The floor was anything but a floor in this plane that Claira sent Paige and Henry too. When Henry arrived, he was welcomed to this plane by Paige tapping her impatient foot against the floor of a dark blue sea which gave off several ripples each time. Henry experienced this dazzling rippling effect as he walked over to his wife's side so they could discuss this watery platform. There was only one wall opposite of the struggling couple and trailing all around from there were a collective of clouds that continued to brush around in a cycle, even making its way around the wall. As they, more notably Henry, remained fixated on this new plane, Claira appeared in-between the cloudy doors on the wall.

"This is the plane where sage soothsayers bring their charges in need of our services," Claira explained, gaining their instant attention. "But you must not waste anymore time before your marital bonds begin to tear loose on their own, even without the conflictive arguments which are merely external problems." She noticed they were both confused at this comment and decided to spare another couple of seconds to better knowledge them, "Alone, you both share the feeling that your marriage might soon come to an end because of the unopened doors on each other's lives. These doubts slowly surface into arguments and when the arguments are experienced and nothing comes of it... the doubts are only made stronger. Now walk into a door of your selection and on the opposite side will be a guide waiting for you. Destiny will help you make the decision of which door to go into. Good luck."

Paige and Henry wordlessly walked to the cloudy doors and both stopped, unsure if they were going into the correct door. They both looked at each other and crossed paths, entering the cloudy doors and triggering their journey through time.

**(X)**

Henry passed the clouds and entered a box of ten feet long and wide that resembled space with its pitch blackness and scattered stars. He accepted the sight and gazed at it until he heard a masculine voice clear his throat behind him. He turned around to find his father in-law Sam Wilder standing before him in a relaxed posture with his hands folded behind his back. "You have _got_ to be kidding me! Of all people in this world, I get _you?_!"

"That wasn't exactly the mature response I was expecting from a grown man, but yes, you get me. This is actually the same way I intended on helping you, so it all works out for the best," Sam replied. "So have you told Paige of my recent visits?"

"No," Henry replied, turning his back to look at the beaming illusion of stars.

"No wonder I've been called to help guide this journey. Why is it that you're being so dishonest with Paige?" Sam asked. "This surprises me, especially since you're the man who accused me of not being there for my daughter, yet you're the man now who is being disloyal to his marriage."

"It's my business as to why I want nothing to do with you," Henry said. "I have no damn respect for people who give up their children. Also, we've been a bit busy raising a family and I haven't had time to tell Paige how much you've been stalking me these past couple of months."

"Paige's mother actually told me of how Paige wanted me to come meet Peter but didn't because you were uncomfortable with my presence. Now are you truly raising a family if you're denying your son the opportunity to meet his grandfather?" Sam asked, then gently bowed his head down only to lift it soon after. "Granted, he isn't my grandson by blood, but I think of him as if he was in the same manner as you and Paige respectfully do so to him." He walked closer to Henry and said, "I don't mean to challenge your fatherhood. As I told you when we met on the dock, you have it in you to be a great father and you have proven that. This isn't about your children though. This is about you and Paige."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Henry stubbornly said. "I'm just not."

"Fine. If you don't wish to travel back in time with me that's one thing, but how about I orb you to the courthouse so you can get started on those separation papers now because this is no doubt where it's heading?" Sam stated without a hint of regret in his voice. "Believe it or not, Henry, I care about you because of the respect you've shown my daughter, so I want you to make this work. Allow me to earn your forgiveness by helping you do so."

"Forgive you?" Henry repeated, scoffing as he returned his vision to Sam. "Can you really say you know what I've been through?"

"This isn't about what you've been through. It's what Paige has been through," Sam explained. "Once we cross out of this boxed up space, which is slightly ironic in a sense, I'll gain the knowledge I need to know to help you understand the events you're witnessing." He held out his hand and asked, "Are you ready?"

Henry muttered in embarrassment, "Is it really necessary we hold hands?"

"Through this initial stage, yes," Sam stated. "Just one pat down from your end and one clasp from mine, we'll be on our way." He grinned as he watched Henry hover his hand over his own and quickly drop it, where Sam clasped it and they vanished in a white shimmering glow.

**(X)**

Paige grinned at her guide. It was the one person who she wasn't sure she would see again and couldn't have been more excited that she crossed paths with Henry to enter the door he originally stood in front of, "Hey, sis."

Prue stood across from Paige with a grin across the face that radiated proudness at how far Paige had come since their last time meeting. These two sisters were in the same environment Sam and Henry were in and that only made Prue look more outstanding at how much her long flowing white dress contrasted the vicious space imitation. The crystals that spiraled around her silk sleeves matched the exact tone of her icy blue eyes and her now raven black hair was cascading over her shoulders as always, "How have you been, Paige? I kinda have an idea but it's only fair of me to ask than just assume as to what I see from up above."

"Hold that thought," Paige said as she walked closer to Prue and embraced her in a tight hug, "I have thought about you so much ever since meeting you. I never even thought I would be granted this moment, but here we are." She broke the hug and said, "I'm fine, by the way. Excluding the whole foundation of my marriage slightly falling apart, of course."

"I know that soothsayer might have told you some things, but just because she can compile reasons to make you feel like your marriage is falling is simply a talent, not the truth," Prue said, folding her arms on the spot. "Your marriage is going as best as can be expected with adopting a son and giving birth to twins. Speaking of, where are your little ones?"

"Peter is sleeping over at Piper's. It's his first sleep over with Wyatt and Chris, so I'm sure they've become even better friends and the twins are over at Phoebe's. She needs to help get Coop more comfortable with children, so I figured I'd throw two over her way," Paige joked, earning a slightly disapproved look from her sister. "I was kidding. Humor is what I contribute to those around me."

"If you say so, but we'll further bond as we experience Henry's troubles," Prue informed, offering her hand. "We have much to see. So why don't we start at the beginning of where it started for Henry?" Paige accepted her hand, confused, as the both teleported in a white shimmering glow.

**(X)**

Henry and Sam appeared in the church where Sister Agnes brought Paige to, two days after she was given up. No one was currently in this grand hall, besides Henry and Sam who no one else would see. Although Henry could spot some changes, the mortal recognized this very holy house as the same one where they decided what they would do with Peter. "This is the church where Paige was given up."

"Yes, it is. Good eye," Sam complimented, not receiving any gratitude back from his son in-law. "The knowledge I've gained tells me that this is two days after Paige was given up and my own memory tells me that this is the day her foster parents adopted her. The day she was given a safe home."

They both heard footsteps from the end of the nearly immaculate halls as a man and woman entered the Church, both looking anxious. As they grew closer to Henry and Sam, the detail was easier to make out. The man, Frederick, had a full head of dark brown hair with glasses over his eyes and a strong jaw. His arm was wrapped against his wife's shoulders, and Sarah was without question feeling his suede jacket brush against her neck as her brown hair was wrapped in a tight bun while her bangs were tucked behind her ear. She had a very welcoming face, but anxiety was the empowering expression she was giving off.

"Fred, this is it. We're finally getting a child," Sarah praised, grabbing the hand that was hanging off her shoulder in joy. "Are you sure you're okay with naming her after my mother?"

"As long as we have a child to name, dear," Frederick replied, grinning at his wife as the two continued to walk down the aisle, passing through Henry and Sam who became temporary ripples.

Sister Agnes came out of her office as her good hearing heard chatter out in the serene and silent halls of the church. In her arms was a baby Paige wrapped in a tan blanket and the nun had a wide grin at the Matthews, "Good morning, you two."

"Morning, Sister," Frederick greeted, attempting his best to be respectful while he was honestly really eager to meet the daughter he'd be adopting. "It is a rather good morning, as well."

They met in-between the first couple rows of pews and halted. Agnes was in her standard habit which ceased motion as well. "This is her. The one I called you about. The parish has been helping me out dearly and there have been contributions and other missions to help you get started."

"May I hold her?" Sarah asked, already tearing in the bliss of a child who she would be able to call her own in a matter of moments. This child was a blessing from God as due to her being infertile with her husband, this was the only way she can share a child with the man she loved without betraying him. Their prayers had been answered by the heavenly Father they endowed so much faith in.

Agnes nodded at Sarah as she handed over baby Paige, who was still currently nameless. The nun watched as these promised parents took in the sight of this baby girl.

Sarah looked down at down at the calm baby and her porcelain skin with curious brown eyes. She had a lot of light brown hair in the center of her head with growing patches along the sides and she was simply breathtaking to the couple who always wanted to expand their legacy and be remembered for when their time passed. They also wanted to experience the cherished moments their friends spoke of and wanted memories that would remain just as everlasting as their own existence. "She's beautiful..." the new mother breathed.

Frederick bent his index finger and rubbed the baby's cheek with his knuckle and grinned, "She sure is, but do you think she looks like a Magdalene? I think she..."

Sister Agnes interrupted and said, "Apologies, but I've forgotten something since I've called you. There was one special request that her birth parents asked of me to pass onto you. I hope you don't think that this shouldn't be respected considering they gave their daughter up because from what I saw that night, they did love her. It just seemed that she was going to lead a safer life without them."

"What was the request?" Frederick asked.

"That you name her something starting with a 'P'," the nun answered, gently shrugging her shoulders. "I haven't the slightest on the reasoning behind this, but it is what they asked."

"Well, we kinda had a..." Sarah stopped herself and nodded her head to the sides, disregarding what she was going to say. "We'll honor it of course. These parents thought what was best for their child and gave her up, only for her to come into our possession by the grace of God. This will be our way of thanking them."

The new parents temporarily lost themselves in the thought of thinking of a name for their baby girl as their new little wonder reached out with her tiny hand and clawed the silver crucifix around Sarah's neck, opening her mouth to reveal her wide smile. Frederick and Sarah's smiles were naturally bigger, but this was it. They finally had a child.

Henry turned to Sam and said, "I wonder if Paige even knows about this."

"You'll see that she has some idea," Sam commented, nodding his head at the sight. "We should go now." Their bodies vanished in shimmering white glows to the next point in time.

**(X)**

Prue and Paige appeared in the familiar shimmering white glow in the lobby of a building with brown tile floors and creamy yellow walls. Paige turned around to see oak double doors wide open at the entrance with rain pattering down on the porch, flowing down the steps and onto the street. "Where are we?" the Witchlighter asked, unable to feel the breeze that was coming from the open doors on this terribly raining day.

"This is Henry's _home_, I should say," Prue answered, looking around at the foster center herself. "This is a prime place in his life up until he's finally adopted by the Mitchells."

Paige stepped back over to her half-sister and said, "I would've hated being in one of these places. Especially in Henry's case considering it took him a couple of tries to find the right family."

"Yeah, a family that he loved and was also loved by as well," Prue added, interlocking her arm with Paige's as she lead her half-sister down the hall. "Unfortunately, it didn't turn out so well with his first time being adopted. What I'm about to show you is little Henry returning after being given back to the foster care for reasons which are covered. Are you ready?"

Paige halted, causing her interlocked sister to stumble forward before stopping as well. "Am I ready to see my husband as a vulnerable child, you mean? I have mixed feelings on that one considering this isn't a condition he wants me to see him in as it's hard enough speaking about it alone, but on the other hand, I should be able to know this about my husband."

Prue nodded, understanding her half-sister's dilemma. "Paige, you have to stick this through. I'm sure Henry is being open to learning so much about you, but you have to open yourself with knowledge about him. It's clear you love him and that you want this marriage to work and Henry agreed to this, so assume he finds it easier for you to see it yourself then him telling you."

Paige smirked, "I'll do so, Prue. Lead the way." The two resumed walking down the hall and turned the corner where they instantly heard a child sobbing as their eyes were plagued with the horrible sight of a child who seemed to be tormented by a recent experience with tears rapidly sliding down his eyes as an older man consoled him with a simple arm around his shoulder. Paige touched her heart, instantly sympathizing for her husband at this young age. "Henry's three here, right?"

"Right," Prue answered. "That man is Jacob Williams and he runs the place, along with a team below him. Now just watch out as this plays out, Paige."

The Witchlighter nodded and turned to little Henry whose light brown hair was looking darker than usual at that age because of how wet it was. Strands were sticking to his forehead, but not as tight as his shirt and jeans were sticking to his skin. Tears were mixed with all the rain that splattered all over his face and the only thing dry on him was the sleeve of Jacob who hadn't even found time to get the young boy a towel yet as Henry just ran in.

"They hated me!" the boy cried. "They th- they tol' me that I should just go if I didn't wan-ta be there!"

"Why would they say that, Henry?" Jacob asked, his blue eyes locked on the little boy who was staring down at the floor. "You were so excited when they first came to pick you up and you wrote me letters telling me everything was okay with the River family."

"I lied," Henry admitted, crying instead of sobbing. "I just wanted a family who loved me! They kept punishing me. I never did anything right for them. I didn't want to be there anymore. Is it fine – is it okay if I stay here again? I don't want those two as my Mom and Dad anymore."

"We should go and get you in some warm clothes, boy," Jacob said, rising from the bench. "I'll call the Rivers in a bit and let them know you'll be staying here and that you got here safe."

"They won't care," Henry said, getting up from the bench as well and nearly slipping on the floor because of the puddle he brought into the home for many children. "There's no point."

"Whether or not that may be true, Henry, you always have to at least let the parents know where their child is," Jacob explained and held Henry's hand as the two began to walk off. "Even if they weren't the best of parents. Good parents will find you one day, Henry."

Paige watched them walk off into another room and turned to Prue, "So Henry ran away."

"The family drove him to it," Prue explained. "They weren't letting Henry be a kid. They were using him more as a servant to do chores the father was too lazy to do and would punish him if he did something wrong. It was too much labor for a kid who just wanted to have that family with the big nice home and even a pet. The Rivers family weren't the ones who were willing to give him that. Neither was this next family I'm about to show you."

"I'm already beginning to understand what made Henry so reluctant to speak about his life," Paige said. "Is this next magical clip the one where Henry gives a family another shot? I remember him telling me it was the second family." She waited for her non-responsive guide to answer her, but the only response she got was a solemn look from Prue. The two then vanished in the shimmering white glow from a time where Henry dismissed the name Henry Rivers and returned to just being Henry.

**(X)**

Sam and Henry appeared in the Matthews home in the living room where they instantly saw Frederick and Sarah Matthews who have aged approximately ten years since the last time trip. "Which event is this?" Henry asked as he watched Sarah pick at her cuticles as Frederick looked at his watch more times than necessary.

"This is the part in Paige's life where she suddenly began to feel lost as to who she is," Sam answered, watching the Matthews fret about this conversation as he was already familiar with it without gaining the extensive knowledge about the moments in his daughter's life.

"Paige! Please come downstairs!" Frederick finally found the strength to shout.

"Are you sure, Fred?" Sarah asked, moving closer to her husband. "A voice inside me is screaming that she might be better off just not knowing. She's never even questioned this before."

"It wouldn't be honest to her, Sarah. I know you want the best for her, as do I, but leading her on isn't fair her," Frederick admitted, hearing Paige charge down the steps.

The pale fourteen year old entered the living room with her hair in a ponytail and the tone was much darker than Sarah's. The headphones to her walkman were around her neck as she held the device in her pocket. She grinned at her foster parents with her new braces and asked, "Is this going to take long, Dad? I have to meet with Natalie at the diner for lunch."

"This might actually take some time, Paige," Sarah said as she walked over to Paige and lead her to the couch. They both sat down and she took a deep breath before saying, "This isn't easy for us to tell you, but we must be honest with you. Before I tell you this, please understand that we both love you very much."

Paige's eyebrows rose as she clenched her teeth tighter than a girl who just got braces a month ago should, "Uh... Oh my gosh, you two aren't getting divorced are you? Please don't! That would totally suck!"

"We're not getting divorced, honey," Frederick assured her. "We also hope our family doesn't fall apart worst in ways we imagine would be worst than a divorce after we tell you this."

"After you tell me what?" Paige replied, gripping her foster mother's hand. She turned to Sarah and asked, "What's going on, Mom?"

The word 'Mom' nearly crumbled Sarah's heart as she feared that may be the last time she ever heard it from Paige, a girl who she loved so much and always considered her a daughter of her own flesh and blood. Her eyes began to water and she couldn't find the strength to confess to Paige a secret they'd been keeping, "I can't, Fred. Look at her..."

Frederick looked at a very confused Paige and it hurt him so much to have to say what he was going to have to say, but realized it would hurt more for Sarah to hear it as she blamed herself for not being able to have children. He just had to be honest to Paige, "See, Paige, this is going to be the toughest thing we'll ever have to admit to you. Three days after you were born, we fell instantly in love with you when-"

"How is three days 'instant'?" Paige interrupted, squinting as she bit on the corner of her lower lip. She flailed her free hand around and asked, "Was there something so unloving about me when I came out of Mom or what?"

Frederick tried to choose his words carefully, but nothing would come out right. "That wasn't the issue, honey. It was just a matter of we adopted you on November 5th; three days after you were born."

The young teenager stopped biting her lip and her jaw quickly dropped. All breathing seemed to stop as she felt bizarre tingles spread down from her neck onto her shoulders. The tingles grew more violent as they moved down to her arms and the last time she felt her hand for a few seconds was when she removed it from under Sarah's. "I- I'm _adopted_?! _But_... you guys showed me pictures of me in the hospital? Or was that just some random baby you stampeded to with your cameras?"

"It was you, Paige," Sarah assured, a tear sliding down her blushing cheek. "We brought you to the hospital with the proper papers to get you a birth certificate and to make sure you were okay. We're still your parents, Paige, maybe not biologically, but we raised you as our child."

Paige found the strength to stand up and said, "I would ask you who my biological parents are, but you would probably lie and tell me you don't know who they are, wouldn't you?" She shifted a harsh glare at each of them and pressed further, "Well?"

"We don't know, Paige," Frederick stated. "There was a nun who your biological parents delivered you to, but even she didn't know who they were. We have no way of finding out who they are."

"Maybe a blood test?" Paige suggested. "That's kinda the obvious answer. You two didn't raise me stupid, just so you know."

"Why would you even want to find these people, Paige? It's like you said, we're the ones that raised you," Sarah said, standing as well now.

"I don't know what I want," Paige admitted, throwing the walkman out of her pocket and onto the floor in a sudden rage. She breathed and said, "This just changed _everything_. I... I don't even know what my proper response should be about this. Do I just completely ignore the fact that my real parents didn't want me or do I get mad at you for not telling me sooner?"

"Paige, we do know that you weren't given up because they didn't love you, there were just some problems they had to work out and knew you were safer with another family and you've lead a safe life with us," Sarah explained. "Please, take your time to understand this, but remember to keep us close as we're still a family; a tight little unit as you like to call us."

Paige put her hands to her face and turned her back to her parents. "I just can't be here right now. Nothing feels real. This doesn't even feel like my home right now and I feel like my name was just put on a sticky note and pasted onto _your_ family tree." The young girl quickly proceeded out of the room and left the house, unsure of what was real in her fourteen years of existence.

Henry turned to Sam who seemed to be embarrassed as it was his suggestion to even hide his daughter. This was the first time Henry sincerely felt bad for Sam and he asked, "So how are you taking this?"

"I always knew Paige wouldn't take this well. I was watching in my own way, but didn't get to hear how confused she was after learning this," Sam said. "I did that to her."

Henry wanted to console him, but honestly still couldn't find the place to throw away all his anger towards this man, even if he managed to finally gain some sympathy from him. "Can we move on?" The mortal couldn't even find the courage to turn to Sam after being so disregarding and disrespectful.

Sam disapprovingly shook his head with the way Henry just expressed himself and sent them both on their way with a thought.

**(X)**

A dingy house with creaky floorboards, air tainted by the smell of cigarettes, stained walls, and rain dripping from the living room ceiling due to the puddle above it all welcomed two shimmering white glows which quickly formed into Paige and Prue. Paige looked up at the dripping ceiling and quickly moved Prue from under it as two more drops descended.

"It wouldn't have touched me," Prue commented, then smirked. "Thanks for the considerate assist though."

"I never got to save you from a famous fireball, so I guess protecting you from drops of water is my substitute," Paige joked, then looked around. "So, where would we be now? The next house to be found on one of those home makeover shows?" The hybrid tucked her hands into the pockets of her skirt as her heels walked over the floorboards, which weren't creaking due to her current spiritual features.

"This is the home where you'll be forced to witness the terrible memory Henry is keeping from you," Prue answered, walking closer to her youngest half-sister. "Sorry to be so blunt about it, but I was having trouble finding the right words."

"Well you did a bang up job on being blunt," Paige replied, removing her hands from her pockets. "You got the message across. Can you give me a little heads up on what I should be expecting? No guns are involved, are they?" The Witchlighter hated guns and found them to be more dangerous than demons, especially since having three children brought into her life. The thought of a gun being around her terrified her to the point where she would rather expose herself to orb a gun into a volcano than have it pointed anywhere near her children.

"No guns, but the sight is just as terrifying, if not more," Prue said.

The two then heard footsteps as a nine year old Henry appeared into the living room, naturally looking older with his now dark brown hair brushed back over his forehead and a mop in his hand. He walked through Prue as he began to mop the puddle on the floor without being told. He wiped as fast as he could with the worries of his foster father coming home and finding his living room in a cautionary state, not to mention having to run upstairs to lay out several towels to absorb the problem upstairs.

Paige looked around and said, "I can't find a single toy here. Not even a helmet to a bike or anything. It's as if a kid doesn't even live here."

"Henry is nine here and has accepted that he just can't be a child in this home. The foster mother at this time left a few weeks ago..." Prue stopped as she heard the front door open where she and Paige both saw a man in a trench coat with the hood from the sweater under on his head.

Henry tried to wipe even faster, not registering that he was only splattering more of the water around the living room in different spots. As the footsteps closed in on him, he turned around and faced his foster father and said, "Oh, hey. There you go. I was just mopping here."

The man took off his trench coat and muttered, "I see." He lowered his hood and revealed he was balding on the center of his head with dirty blond hair around it. "Why the hell is there water on my damn floor? Huh, Henry?!"

"It's raining out and there must've been some tiles still missing from that last storm on the roof," Henry guessed, rubbing his nose to hopefully distract him. "I called a guy to come fix it and he should be coming tomorrow."

"You called a guy? You used my phone?" The foster father, Ernie, closed in on Henry and smacked the mop out of his hand. "How do you intend to pay this guy? You workin'?"

"No," Henry answered. "I just thought you would want to fix the roof."

"Under my own damn conditions, not yours!" Ernie shouted, violently pushing Henry down to the floor where he slid a foot further because of the puddle.

Paige glared at Ernie and raised her hand, forgetting she couldn't make contact into the physical plane of the past. She slapped her hand against her thigh and told Prue, "I wish I could just orb this bastard to the middle of the ocean. He doesn't look like much of a swimmer."

"It gets worst, unfortunately," Prue said, running a hand through her hair as she knew what happened, but never got to see it personally. "At least you'll finally understand why Henry is so terrified by this moment."

"Fine, we don't have to hire him!" Henry cried out, holding up his defensive hands at the abusive foster father of his as he began to close in on him.

"Oh, really? So are you going to buy a ladder and fix the roof _yourself_?"Ernie shouted with a drunk slur, alcohol reeking from his breath. He smiled darkly and his teeth were stained so yellow no amount of toothpaste could recover from and a lot of plaque running below his gums. "I sure as hell don't think I'm gonna let the neighbors see you climbing up this house and fixing this place? I'm the man of this house!"

Henry began to crawl backwards from the base of his hands as Ernie continued to move in on him. It wasn't long before Ernie swung at him and Henry rolled out of the way, making his best efforts to get to his feet. "Don't touch me!" Henry cried once more, getting to his feet and running around the couch.

"You dare move from me, boy?!" Ernie shouted, chasing after Henry who was doing his best to run from the aggressive man. The abusive man seemed to gain favor by the weather as he watched Henry slide across the floor, falling onto his back. He snickered as he leaned over Henry, grabbing him by his throat with one hand and slapping him in the face with the other. He picked him up by both his neck and shirt collar and growled, "If I swing at you, you best learn to take it!" With one ferocious hurl, he threw Henry helplessly through the air at a wall.

Henry's nine year old body crashed into the wall, breaking the plaster at the great collision, and the boy crumpled to the floor with splinters in his back amongst various scratches. He couldn't even take the time to register what happened as he instantly blacked out once making the contact.

Ernie didn't seem to be remorseful as he walked past Henry's body to go to the kitchen and have another beer.

"Oh, my God," Paige whispered, putting a hand to her mouth as she watched Henry's limp body rest on the floor, urging to run over and heal him. She turned her back and stared at Prue with watery eyes, "I can't see this. Just tell me what happens next."

"Just like the foster mother who left, Henry leaves as soon as he gains conscious. Ernie is arrested for this abuse and Henry returned to the foster home badly bruised up," Prue answered, deeply disturbed by the sight herself. "You married a strong man, Paige. I can even see why he would try to hide this from you. He's simply haunted by this memory as he was abused so bad he didn't even get to realize what happened. It all happened so quickly. One minute he's mopping in fear of a man who's supposed to be his father, the next minute he's bullied and the minute after that, he's laid out."

"I want to go see him now, Prue," Paige begged. "Please. I have to see him."

"I have a couple more things to show you, Paige. Then I can reunite you with your husband," Prue walked over to Paige and gave her a consoling hug and a shoulder to quickly weep on. "Everything will be working its way back to fine after this journey is over." She enclosed her half-sister tighter and the two vanished in the shimmering white glow.

**(X)**

Sam and Henry appeared in the standard fashion in this time traveling trip on a rooftop and under the midnight blue sky where they saw a teenage Paige sitting a couple of feet away. Henry walked closer to her and asked Sam, "Where are we now?"

"Two days after Paige's foster parents died in that car crash. Since she was still underage, she came to live with her Aunt Jackie and her Uncle Dave," Sam answered, holding his own personal memory here. "She was suck a wreck."

"I can see that," Henry replied, eyeing the seventeen year old Paige.

Paige's jet black hair was wrapped up in a ponytail and the heavy bangs she styled over her forehead was combed back. The day she lost her parents was the day she lost her rebellious edge as they were the reason she acted out. She regretted it so much. As more tears stained her porcelain cheeks, her sobs evolved into full cries and she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad. I was a bad daughter and now it's too late for me to make that up. I feel terrible, so terrible... Why couldn't I just accept that you were my parents, the ones who were there when I first crawled, the ones that were there every Christmas, and more importantly, you two _are_ my family. Blood or not and I treated you horribly."

Paige heavily sniffed her running nose as she wiped her flooding eyes with her gray sleeve. She pounded her fist against the rooftop and said, "How the hell did I even survive? I was in the same car as you were... and yet, I'm rolling through the streets as you two are left to die. How the _hell_ is that? I was the bad one, you two didn't deserve to die for me. It's all my fault." The fierce wind blew Paige's hair back as she looked down at the concrete ground and said, "I don't even deserve to be alive while you two aren't. I should just..." Paige tightened the grip on her legs as she considered her thoughts of suicide.

The winds continued to whistle as Paige found herself more tempted by the thought of replacing all this guilt with a pain that would only hurt a little, but would be worth it. She rose to her feet and stepped closer to the ledge when she could've sworn she heard a voice in the wind.

"Don't do it, Paige."

She quickly turned around and the only thing she saw were leaves flying through the air as some unordinary specks of blue lights hid behind them, quickly vanishing. Paige looked up to the sky where she wanted to thank the heavenly angel that saved her from her destructive thoughts, but she was distracted by a constellation of a Roman numeral two just floating in the air. Little did she know the sign represented how her power was watching over her, having finally found her again after she orbed out from the car wreck. Now that the great representation of her power knew she was safe, it parted ways until the time would come for her to use her powers more often. This sign would also consciously embed itself into Paige's mind as something she liked, later using for her Book of Shadows.

The teenager wiped her eyes dry one last time before reentering the house through the window, shutting it close behind her.

Henry turned to Sam and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't get it. What was that voice?"

Sam remained silent, deciding whether or not he wanted to answer it. He sincerely wanted Henry's approval so he would feel comfortable in Paige's home to stop by for random visits and he said, "I told her. I quickly left after doing so, I was just hoping she would listen to me and I'm glad it made her think twice. I often watched her through her life. I was there for the first few days of her life with the Matthews, more importantly the day they adopted her, and whenever I felt her emotionally upset, I would get a hit. I always responded to that quicker than I did with any charge."

"So you didn't completely abandon her," Henry commented.

"Of course not. Just as Patty watched after her in the heavens, I personally kept watch over her as well," Sam explained. "She was my daughter. It was bad enough I couldn't raise her, but I couldn't just turn my back on her either. Look at what could've been the result here tonight."

"Why didn't you ever tell Paige?" Henry asked.

"It wasn't my place to pop up and state all this," the Whitelighter guide replied. He grinned. "I suppose you learned something about me tonight though."

"I guess so," Henry said, staring down Sam with more respect than he ever had for him.

**(X)**

Paige and Prue appeared, parted from their hug, in the clean hallway of the Mitchell home where a vast amount of pictures were hung on the wall with several sorts of different frames protecting them. The Witchlighter rubbed her forehead and said, "This teleporting thing is kinda getting on my nerves."

"Coming from a girl who orbs her way through everywhere," Prue replied, grinning. "Very interesting."

"Yeah, well I don't orb back in time. Although that would be one hell of an advancement," Paige pondered, going so far to exaggerate by rubbing her chin. She dropped her hand and asked, "Where are we now? House of Mitchell?"

"You got it," Prue answered, guiding Paige through the foyer of the beautifully clean house and into the kitchen where they saw a nineteen year old Henry with a cast on his hand as he sat at the table. Another man with sandy brown hair was at the stove, making a couple of omelets.

"This must be where Henry learned to make his Mitchell Omelet," Paige guessed with a smirk. "But he told me on his birthday that he just made it up on the spot..."

"Maybe he covered it up by saying so. My guess is that some things are harder to talk about than he lets on," Prue examined. "What we're viewing here is one week after Henry's foster mother died."

"Prematurely, you should add," Paige said, turning to Prue. "Henry told me she died in a car crash. That was another thing we found out we had in common."

"Is that all he told you?" Prue asked. Her half-sister nodded and the deceased Halliwell said, "Watch as this unfolds then." Both turned to Henry and his foster father, Gregory.

Gregory walked off to let the omelets sizzle and sat at the table across from Henry. The silence was still as Henry just stared at his cast before whispering, "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Stop blaming yourself," Gregory practically ordered. "It was out of your control and I'm glad I just didn't lose the both of you."

"It's just... a part of me feels like that I could've made some better choices on the road. I don't have anything else to blame it on. The roads weren't icy or slippery, it's not like I was drunk, so the only factor left was me," he raised the arm with the cast around the hand and shook his head, "And this is all I got from it. A cast that I can remove within a month while my mother is dead."

"So he was driving the car," Paige said above a whisper. "This boy was keeping way too many skeletons in his closet." She ran a hand through her dark hair as she continued to look on.

Gregory stood up and made his way back to the stove, "Henry, as much as I want someone to blame as well, there isn't. Some guy made a terrible choice on the road, and that guy wasn't you. It was the guy that forced you to turn into that building and poor Samantha was just on the wrong side at the wrong time. I don't blame you, son..."

"But...?" Henry said, feeling his foster father drag off.

"I miss my wife. I miss your mother. She was the one who decided she wanted a child and you were thirteen when we adopted you and you just seemed to have such great care for all the kids at the foster center, helping them all out with your advice. She originally wanted a child, but she saw someone more special in you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I had the special talent to kill her," Henry muttered, but it was apparently loud enough for Gregory to hear.

"Stop speaking like that!" Gregory shouted, turning away from the stove. "It was an accident! You didn't purposely run along the side of the wall until she died! You didn't kill your mother and this is the last I want to hear of it! Get over this guilt so you can properly mourn her. I don't want you being so scared on reflecting on the woman she was because of the guilt making you believe you're the reason she no longer is. Samantha wouldn't blame you for her death. Know that."

The foster father turned his back to Henry and left the kitchen, phasing through Prue as he stormed out. All he left in the kitchen was a guilty injured foster son, omelets cooking, and two invisible witches.

Prue rested her hand on Paige's shoulder and said, "I have one last thing to show you." The two were enveloped in the shimmering white glow and vanished from the scene.

**(X)**

Sam and Henry appeared in the very familiar environment of P3, but only a few years back. The Barenaked Ladies were playing on stage and the crowd seemed to be really enjoying themselves on the night such a prominent band was playing in their city. Henry spotted a younger Piper at the counter serving her customers and he turned to Sam, "Why are we here?"

"You've seen events of Paige's life which have shaped her to be who she is today, but as you know, she's found herself seeking enlightenment. After her parents died, she got this thought to just get on up and look for her blood family," Sam explained, nodding towards Piper. "Her search failed, but as I'm sure she would tell you, she always felt she had a connection with her sisters." The Whitelighter pointed to a small round table where a younger Paige, early twenties, was sitting enjoying a mineral water through a flute glass and had papers sitting in front of her.

Paige found herself singing along with the Barenaked Ladies before she managed to hear a scream on the other side of the bar where she found Prue and Phoebe clapping as Piper was hugging that boyfriend of hers. Little did she know that Piper had just accepted his proposal, but she couldn't help but grin, "Cool family," she muttered, secretly urging she was a part of them. She decided to mind her own business and returned to her mineral water as the band played on.

"As she always felt a connection to the club, she always felt a greater connection with her sisters," Sam explained. "Her parents telling her she was adopted set Paige off on the path to discovering who she really is and this new destiny of hers is what's going to help her achieve it."

"Take me back to Paige," Henry requested. "I have to see her."

"I understand," Sam said, offering his hand. "I may have forgotten to mention we have to shake on it again to leave this trip."

"I hold less objections to it this time," Henry stated as he clasped his father-in-law's hand, quickly vanishing in a shimmering white glow.

**(X)**

Paige and Prue appeared in an alley where Paige instantly sucked her teeth. "Even in a trip through time, I'm forced to find my way into an alley."

"Tell me about it," Prue said as she began to wander down the alley. "Though I'll take an alley any day over all the mist Up There. It really is quite annoying."

"That's just your witch nature speaking, but it seems to have the right idea in mind," Paige complimented, following Prue. "So what are we doing here? I don't think it got worst for Henry after he left home and moved to San Francisco."

"It didn't. In this final portion, I'm supposed to show you what all these events led up to," Prue explained, pointing down the end of the alley where they both saw a twenty-three year old Henry walking out of the alley with a young African American boy beside him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Henry asked him. The boy nodded and he said, "Now, Connor-"

"Don't call me that!" The eight year old exclaimed, sucking his teeth. "I hate when people be callin' me dat."

"Fine, but what exactly would you like me to call you? Got a nickname?" Henry asked, then grinned. "I'll warn you now that I refuse to call you 'Pimp Daddy' or anything like that."

"Call me 'Speed'," the boy replied, slightly amused by Henry's remark but was trying to be too tough to show it.

"Alright, Speed. I've been assigned to watch over you and make sure you're alright, and let's just say that I was called to duty just in time. What's an eight year old like you doing messing with those teenagers? They're gonna get you killed," Henry said, reaching the end of the alley after both him and Speed phased through Paige and Prue.

"Age doesn't matter on the streets, man," Speed replied. "I gotta do what I gotta do, to make that paper and be able to live."

"I'm going to give you my phone number. I want you to call me if someone tries to threaten you into doing something against your will. You already got one strike against you and I want to make sure you can avoid anymore," Henry sincerely said.

"Who are you?" Speed asked, stopping at the curb.

"I'm Henry," the parole officer simply responded. "Henry Mitchell."

Paige turned to Prue and said, "This is actually a charge of mine. Ten years from this point, I mean. He's actually the one that brought me and Henry get together, now that I think about it."

Prue grinned, "Kinda makes you think a little more about your marriage, doesn't it?" Paige nodded and Prue took her half-sister's hand. "I would certainly expect so after this little trip. How about we go see him then?"

"Please," Paige responded, feeling herself returning back to the plane already the moment the white shimmering glow closed in on her eyes.

**(X)**

Henry and Sam were standing across from each other in the realm where this all started. The clouds were still rotating around them and the dark blue water was still under their feet. Claira currently wasn't there, for reasons unknown, but Henry didn't seem to mind as he was having a personal discussion with Sam. "Are you sure about this? This is really big... You know?"

"I'm positive, son," Sam said, pausing to see if Henry would object to the title. To his content, it was fine and he continued, "It's not as if I never got to use it, as much as I wanted too."

"Thank you, sir," the mortal responded.

Paige and Prue appeared and Prue smirked at Sam, "How's it going?"

"Successful. You?" Sam asked.

Prue nudged Paige in the arm and the Witchlighter quickly smiled at her father before running into Henry's arms. The two tightly embraced, now closer to each other than ever, and not in a physical sense. They both felt sparks that alerted the opposite of how much they clearly knew each other with the magical assist. Paige pulled apart a little and said, "I understand now, Henry. I'm so sorry for trying to force you to come out with that horrible, horrible day. It wasn't my place and..."

"It was your place, Paige. You're my wife, but after everything I learned about you today and that you learned from me, I think we're stronger than before. We should even start over. No more secrets, no more stories with pages missing," Henry let go of Paige as he kneeled down, wetting his knee in the watery platform of this realm, and he reached into his pocket where he pulled out a ring. The silver band held only one diamond melted in the middle and he looked into Paige's stunned eyes, "Paige, we're already married, but I want to start over. Will you remarry me?"

Paige grinned and turned to Prue out of shock. "I wasn't expecting this to come from this journey."

"He has my approval," Prue commented, grinning.

"Mine's as well," Sam added. "Assuming it matters."

"Of course it does," Paige replied, turning back to her her husband who was on one knee, waiting for an answer on his pending proposal. "Are you sure about this? Marrying me again? Are you addicted to weddings or something?"

Henry chuckled and said, "Paige, this all changed me. For the better. I'll feel more of an honest man and feel a little prouder with the way I've handled this marriage if we can have a clean slate. So will you remarry me, Paige?"

Paige nodded as her amber eyes gazed down at him, "Yes."

Henry stood to his feet and passionately kissed his fiancee, but still wife, and put the ring to her finger. He slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand where her wedding band was. The ring gently clinked with her wedding ring before the diamond emitted a small blue glow which matched the tone of orbs. Both seemed surprised and Henry turned to Sam as Paige stared at her husband.

"Uh, Henry. Where exactly did you get this?" Paige asked, returning her brown eyes to the ring, just in time to see the glow vanish.

"Your father," Henry answered. "What exactly was that, Sam?"

"Just a couple of orbs I managed to squeeze into the diamond. Whitelighter pay didn't grant me the money I needed to buy Patty a ring, so I needed my own way to make it special for her," the Whitelighter explained. "Of course, I never got a chance to ask for her hand in marriage, but I always carried it on me."

"Nice to know you more than just loved my mother and it wasn't just some romantic rendezvous," Prue said, never truly appreciating Sam for all he was, especially after learning about his joint decision with her mother as to what would become of Paige.

Paige, "Thanks, Dad." She turned back to Henry and said, "This day has just turned around more than anyone could've predicted."

"No kidding. Birthday yesterday, engaged again today," Henry replied, smiling. "We'll do everything right this time."

"I know we will," Paige said, taking his hands in hers. "We should go home and talk though. Heaven knows we got enough material to keep us up for weeks." She turned to Prue and Sam, "Thank you so much, you guys."

"Always a pleasure," Prue graced. "Keep taking care of yourself, Paige. You as well, Henry."

"Prue, right?" Henry asked. She nodded. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for the approval." He turned to Sam and said, "Come over soon. Meet your grandchildren. Please."

"I will. Good luck, you two," Sam wished as he Prue vanished in shimmering white lights, returning to different destinations.

"Now you got to meet the family _and_ make up with them," Paige commented. "You're off to a good start on this new marriage thing."

"You know me, I like making the effort," Henry replied. "Let's just go home now. And talk."

"I'd like that," the Witchlighter replied as she tried to orb out, but only willed the teleportation method of the shimmering white glow, accompanying them out of this realm one last time.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **Even if I don't deserve, kindly leave some comments if a full-blown review is just too overwhelming for you.


	21. Embers Into Flames

**A/Note: **Well, not that I deserve reviews due to lack of consistent updating, but thanks to those who have still left comments around either here or on Shadow Tales. They are appreciated, even if I can't take the time to fully respond to each review anymore as it's a huge shame. But if there is anything that truly alarms you, I'll always make the time for that. As for this chapter, it's been sitting on my laptop since last year and I realized it's March and possibly time to post. So for those still reading, there are only six chapters left in this series. Three written and three chapters after that. An eventual Epilogue will follow as well, but ramble done. Kindly review with a thought or two if you read.

**Chapter 21- Embers Into Flames**

_**June 8th, 2007**_

Paige sat across from Piper at an outside table from a restaurant. In front of her on the table was a bowl of fine green salad, bare of dressing, and Piper couldn't help but just stare in awe. The eldest Halliwell pushed her hair out of her face, which the wind kept insisting was a better place for it and threw it behind her shoulders and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to put some salad dressing on that? Italian, perhaps? At _least _some oil and vinegar? It needs flavor."

"Uh uh," Paige replied, taking another bite of her dry salad. "I'm still trying to get that figure just in time for the beach, and God love those little girls, but they left a little more fat than Mommy wanted."

"Paige, you look fine and that's not even me just giving you the sister answer," Piper complimented. "Especially great for someone who gave birth to twins. You only had stomach fat and lucked out." The eldest returned to her salad which paralleled Paige's with Italian dressing, bacon bits, and bread crumbs. "Now, let's chat business."

"Business?" Paige repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I've already discussed this with Leo and I meant to discuss it with Phoebe, but she insisted on working today, so you know, you snooze you lose," Piper joked. "I've come to the decision that it's time to sell the club."

Paige's grip relinquished all strength and the fork dropped out of her hand and against the table. "What? Piper, you can't, it's... it's the _club_!" She picked up a napkin and began to wipe her fork clean of the questionable germs which were no doubt around.

"That the best you got?" Piper replied, taking a sip of her orange juice. "I just figured it's time for a change in my life. P3 was always just the safest investment at the time, but I know I have what it takes to be the chef of my own place. I need something new going on. Phoebe's getting married soon, you apparently are as well, and you got three kids going for you. My only options are to get pregnant again or start up my own place."

"I'm assuming you're against getting rowdy in the sheets," Paige joked.

"Actually, yeah. As much as I wanted that little girl, for me to keep secretly urging for her is only betraying to the beautiful boys I have right now. I'm fine with being the mother of two, so I think I'm calling it quits on the pregnant business," Piper expressed. "Now I want to head into the restaurant business. I gave P3 another year of life after the Ultimate Battle, but I don't want my interest to wane to the point where I completely neglect it. I want it to end on a good note and that's where you come in."

"Is it now? You're not trying to give me the club, are you? I know I'm hip and all, but giving an ex-alcoholic a bar is asking for trouble," Paige quipped, rotating her straw inside her glass of iced tea.

"It was a thought at first, but I realized how much I would need the money to help get started on the restaurant. So I'm throwing a huge sendoff to the club and doing it honor as it has meant so much to all of us over the years. I wanted to know if you'd personally be interested in designing all the illustrations that we're going to put up for display," Piper explained, rubbing her palms together. "Of course you design it and then we digitally enlarge it, but it'll be your work."

"How could I deny this opportunity? The only time I ever get a chance to dig into my art roots is when I'm drawing past foes to the best of my memory in the Book of Shadows," Paige explained, reaching for her iced tea. A jingling stopped her from drinking as it continued to ring in her mind. She placed down the glass and rubbed her cringing forehead, "Well, I certainly can't say I've experienced this for a long time."

"What is it? A charge?" a concerned Piper asked.

"Yeah, but this one is a little more familiar," Paige replied, identifying the person calling. Her eyes widened and hand dropped as she realized who it was, "It's Phoebe."

"Phoebe?! Is she in trouble?" Piper asked.

"That's generally what these distress calls mean," Paige quipped, rising from her seat. "Sorry to leave you to pay for my _salad_, but I really have to go." She ran around from the table, past Piper to find a secreted place to orb away from.

Piper turned while sitting, expecting her sister would invite her to tag along to unleash some pent up aggression on little things onto a demon and shouted, "Hey! Wait for m-." She sighed and before she found herself fully defeated, she shouted, "Salad _and_ iced tea, by the way!"

**(X)**

"This is the last time I think an alley is safe!" Phoebe shouted after she finished knocking her demonic opponent down to the ground. She looked around the alley to determine what technique she would use next when her foe got back to his feet. She was glad to have dressed so comfortably this morning in blue jeans and a fitting black tee, a white heart imprint on her chest, to match her sneakers as it was a good attire to battle a demon in.

The witch saw him getting to his feet and she charged over to a trash can. She grabbed the steel lid of the trash can as her opponent created his second fireball. The witch prepared herself as he unleashed it with a quick thrust and she threw the lid as it grew closer and dropped to the ground. She heard the fireball ring against the lid before both seemed to vanish from sight. This concerned her as the fireball was strong enough to swallow steel, so it was a threat to her as well.

"Best defense is a good offense," Phoebe muttered, speeding off from the ground with a now slightly dirty black shirt and quickly ran her elbow into the demon's abdomen, uppercut him with her other arm, and took a couple of steps back to gain some space as the demon tried to recover from it.

The demon in the raggedy gray sweater with black ripped jeans grabbed his jaw and said, "You'll pay-" as he turned to look at Phoebe, he saw her execute a graceful cartwheel where her feet beautifully knocked into the side of his head a few seconds apart. He fell to the ground, furious that she was doing better than he expected.

The Charmed One kept her space with her fists up and shouted, "Who are you working for?"

A flurry of orbs appeared besides Phoebe and Paige materialized. "Phoebe, what's going on?"

"Paige? What are you doing here?" Phoebe questioned.

"You didn't call me?" Paige questioned. "Must've been your inner witch. What's going on?"

Phoebe pointed to the demon. "I gotta tell you, I've been beating him around so I don't understand why my inner witch would scream out for you." She made sure her demonic opponent remained on the ground as she casually carried out a conversation with her half-sister.

"I don't know," Paige said, shrugging her shoulders. "Next time I'll just hang back with Piper and enjoy my iced tea."

"Well, you should've brought Piper because short of this guy hurling another fireball at me, we aren't going to be able to vanquish him!" Phoebe vented, strangely surfacing over coming her earlier casual tone. She looked around the alley, "Get creative, Paige!"

"Why are you getting so angry with me? I think you need to calm down and just-" the Witchlighter was interrupted as her sister tackled her to the ground, just in time to avoid the ferocious fireball which exploded against the wall. "Whoa, thanks."

Phoebe cautiously watched the demon as she helped her half-sister back to her feet. "Orb behind him and we'll come at him from both sides." The witch began to run towards the demon.

Paige nodded and quickly dematerialized in orbs, understanding this would send the demon searching both ways to find her. The demon twirled his wrist around, manifesting a fresh fireball for Phoebe as he knew where she was. He quickly threw it before Paige could return to interrupt and the fire roared as it charged towards Phoebe.

Phoebe's eyes widened as she saw the attack coming her way, and when she dived left, she intended to just dodge it with the expected pain of crashing against the ground, but something more skillful happened. The witch gracefully began to hover into the air, just as Paige reappeared to witness this. She soared a couple of feet higher, even flapping her arms like wings twice as she tried to propel more height under her feet as she realized her power of levitation had finally returned to her. Phoebe realized she was higher than she expected and figured it to be an account of her power returning to her with a pent up boost. She was still impressed by her charged levitation, but was too high to attack her demonic opponent from her height.

"Very well," the demon cursed, shimmering away.

"Um, Phoebs? Mind coming down?!" Paige shouted up to her, also impressed by her sister's distance from where she stood.

Phoebe nodded as the wind brushed her chestnut brown hair around, flapping more than usual with her great height. She held her arms out at shoulder length and gently bounced them up and down in her elegant descent, spinning around slowly like an angel coming down from the heavens to grace Paige with her presence. Phoebe's feet dropped down to the ground and she let out a deep breath, "That was so amazing!" Phoebe exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"It sure was, but why did your powers come back all of a sudden? Well, your _power_," Paige asked. "At the same time a demon attacked, no less."

"Maybe it was just time," Phoebe shrugged. "I haven't levitated in years. I'll admit, I've felt something rising inside me for a good week or so now and maybe it was my power."

"Bravo on getting the power back, but may I ask what you were doing in an alley? Did you forget about the whole bad aura these places give off?" Paige questioned, shooting her sister a look which instantly made her feel guilty. "You looking for trouble?"

"No, I was looking to get to my waxing appointment on time. I don't have the orbing thing going on and I'm not wasting gas on a two block walk, which is shortened by this alley here," Phoebe explained, grabbing a hold of her half-sister's hand. "I'll reschedule from your house though. It looks as if we gotta go look up a demon."

"I have to check on how Henry is doing with the kids anyway. I kinda abandoned him with all three kids to have this little breakfast meeting with Piper," Paige replied. "I just hope Billie is alright as well." Dazzling orbs surrounded the two and they vanished.

**(X)**

The rather large number of existing Phoenixes often shocked people who generally thought of them as a small coven. While some of the many mercenaries chose to associate themselves with clans of no more than four, the coven as a whole was huge. The more profound members who preferred staying close to their siblings by nature and oath rested within this great mansion where they held access to a collective of resources, chambers for their earnings, as well as rooms for those who didn't have apartments outside this home.

Being the son of the High Priestess of the Coven, Cameron naturally possessed one of the larger rooms, which was better labeled as an apartment; a master bedroom, smaller guest room, a more than enough space living room which also acted as a kitchenette, and his very own restroom. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was a crystal chandelier with special branches of lights which were in the shape of triangles and were tinted orange, allowing the space under it to be an atmosphere of pale orange light.

Around the large living room were two black leather couches opposing each other with a glass coffee table in-between, littered with magazines about the other realms written by journalistic gnomes who were brave enough to cross the variety of realms to be able to write about them. Along the walls was a black marble fireplace with a fire burning at the base inside the beautiful structure. The white marble floors contrasted the fireplace, but Cameron preferred this color on the floors around the mansion because of how the sun would create a phenomenally impressive glow from the early rays. The night show was even more of Cameron's taste as his view from the windows allowed the moon to beam its light in as day vanished, still providing what Cameron liked to believe was a demonstration of how light can always survive in darkest of times, in obvious relation to Good and Evil.

While other magical rewards he gained from successful hits were spread around the room, a young blonde witch was currently occupying one of his black leather couches as she stared into the dying fire. She tightened her black shoulder sleeve vest which covered the yellow shirt underneath that was of a greater length than the vest. She sat alone, wondering if she would ever be able to find it in her to embrace the inner sorceress in her, but Cameron assured her his men were getting closer.

The crimson-colored door opened and Billie heard Cameron's familiar boots tap against the marble floor as he continued to make his way over to her, dressed in casual blue jeans and a navy blue jacket. He hopped over the back of the couch and landed sideways, pressing his palm against the side of his head to balance it, "Sorry, I took so long. The sorcerer that wanted me to take out this creature he created didn't want to give me my pay, so well... I had to reunite Frankenstein with his monster. What have you been up to?"

"Just waiting on you, pretty much," Billie said. "I gotta ask you something. Whenever we hang out in this apartment, it's really good to have the company, but when I leave, what do you do?" She patted her jeans and shrugged her shoulders, "All I know is that after you left or pretty much every time to leave me in here to work a job, I just get pretty lonely."

Cameron fixed his position, pressing his back against the supporting upholstered couch and extending his legs to reach the glass coffee table, folding one leg over the other. He folded his arms against his chest and said, "I'm generally a lonely kind of guy anyway. I don't like to work with other Phoenixes as I prefer working on my own. Since my father died, at least."

"Care to tell me how that all happened or is it still too soon?" Billie asked, having only heard Cameron mention his deceased father once or twice.

"I trust you," Cameron stated. "My father was a Phoenix as well. One of the best. He actually met my mother on the job. It was one of those _romantic_ tales where they were each defending the other one was trying to kill. According to the charter, they had to call off the hit and both races of demons were furious. From what my father used to tell me, before the demons could even fully conjure their attacks, they carried out their targeted kills and protected each other. Their relationship started from there." He reached into the pocket of his navy blue jacket and pulled out brass knuckles. "These used to belong to him." He slid his fingers, excluding his thumb, into the metal guard and began to rub it against his bare hand.

"What are you doing?" Billie asked in reference to the brass knuckles.

"It's something my father used to do," he answered, continuing what he was doing. "He said it makes his bare fist stronger as well by prepping it against pure metal. It's done me some good, as well."

"How long has he been gone?" Billie asked, finding it to be a safer question than what killed him.

"Four years. He died when I was eighteen. It was the same year my mother was declared High Priestess of the coven. While my mother was getting used to her new position, my father wasn't willing to just sit back and enjoy the royalty, so he went out to continue the fight. Don't get me wrong, my mother still goes out and kicks a little ass when she can, but she has to be responsible for this entire coven now," the blond mercenary explained, grinding his bare knuckles harder with the brass guard. "My father was called to an assignment and that's where he was ambushed..."

Billie sat up from the couch, relaxing her feet to the floor. "_Who_ ambushed him?"

"Demons possessing an adamantium blade," Cameron answered. "This tribe called him to take out a rival tribe that were fighting over territory. When he got there it turns out that the tribes decided to unite to take them out in revenge for all the times the Phoenixes have been forced to intervene against their demonic brethren and it was too much for him to take on. These tribes were threats, which is why they needed my father to take them out, and the fact that they were swift in numbers was too much for him. Once he was stabbed, he couldn't access his powers to escape and he died in the Underworld. The fire inside him died and his body must've blown up."

"Do the bodies always blow up?" Billie asked.

Cameron put his feet down onto the floor and leaned forward on the couch, "No, they don't, but my father's body was never found as you can be damn sure my mother, the coven, and _myself_ went looking for it."

"How are you sure that he's dead then?" Billie asked. "Maybe he's still out there somewhere."

"He wouldn't just leave us," Cameron muttered with a low growl following. "He knows... he's just dead. I've accepted that and confirmed it when I killed the bastards who killed him."

A knock echoed through the halls as they both heard the door open. Another member of the coven walked in with her light brown hair in a pony-tail to assure her hair wouldn't be an issue while fighting, but she could still feel beautiful. The black leather vest she was currently sporting was tight against her chest, as were her matching pants. The fair-skinned mercenary walked in with her hands folded behind her back and her heels echoing. She looked at Billie and said, "Here again I see."

"As long as I remain sister-less, expect to see more of me, Deirdre," Billie replied to the mercenary who always seemed to hint that Billie didn't belong in this mansion.

"What is it?" Cameron asked her.

Deirdre removed her hands from behind her back and onto her waists. She curled her neck to Billie's direction and said, "At least you're being asked for this time." She turned back to Cameron, "The High Priestess wishes to see the both of you. She's come into some information that might please you both." She turned on her heel and made her way to leave.

Cameron turned to Billie and said, "This must be it. You ready?" She nodded and the both got up to meet the matriarch of the coven.

**(X)**

Paige walked into the altar room with baby Sarah in her arms and saw Phoebe flipping through the Book of Shadows. "Did you find anything yet?"

Phoebe first looked at her niece and smirked, "How's she doing?" She walked around the podium and tickled Sarah's stomach, but she received no response except the little girl gazing up at her with earthly brown eyes.

"She's awake, clearly, and Sammie is sleeping, thankfully. I think that's what's made it so easy for Henry," Paige answered. "Peter's also hanging out with his father in the bedroom as Henry gets some work done. We really need to get a little Elvin nanny of our own to watch these kids."

"Well, Auntie Phoebe and Uncle Coop wouldn't mind watching those identical angels again," Phoebe offered, smiling at her niece some more. "Coop was really warming up to kids after that little visit, so force them on me more if you have too. Throw Peter in the mix as well. Coop may just want a boy, but little does he know, he's not getting him."

"Destined for a girl, of course," Paige commented, swaying Sarah back and forth. "Okay, but what's going on with this demon? You got anything on him?"

"I found the entry, but I had to stop once I saw one half of the cutest twins in the world," Phoebe joked, returning to the podium and looked down at the page. Her grin faded, her focus returned. "Let's see. I didn't find the exact demon, but I figured he was a minion so I believe I found who he was working for."

"What does it say about him?" Paige asked as she moved around the podium as well, eyeing the page to see an illustration of a demon in a long gray jacket with scruffy dirty blond hair in the bottom left corner of the page.

"Galtier is a demon who has often rivaled the Power Broker clan for decades. While Power Brokers specialize in storing powers inside of Innocents, Galtier and his clan of demons are experts in extracting abilities to gain to their own collective," Phoebe read, running her fingers under the lines as she continued to read on. "With access to special rituals, they hold the ability to call upon powers that are present in a selective person." She stopped reading and turned to Paige, "That would explain the rivalry. The Power Brokers store a power in someone, Galtier and his people track the person and snatch the power before the Brokers can reclaim it."

"Fine, one explanation down, but the next question would be, why are they after you?" Paige asked. "For your powers? You _just_ got levitation back."

Realization hit Phoebe, "That might be the case, but remember how I said I felt something rising within me all week? Maybe since I had lost my powers, they found some way to return them in hopes they would surface to steal them. Kinda makes sense when you think about it." Phoebe's eyes returned to the page as she looked at the potion ingredients to take out Galtier and those who shared his blood.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it, alright. What about empathy?" Paige questioned, trying to make sense of it all. "I doubt the demons just want the ability to float up from the ground. No offense."

"Offense taken, but I'll let it slide. I haven't shown any signs of empathy..." Phoebe trailed off, reflecting on the past week. She put her hand to her mouth and dropped it back onto the pages. She turned to Paige and said, "Too be honest, I think I have been showing snippets of signs. When Coop and I were baby-sitting the girls, I remember wanting to make a child of my own right then and there, but I simply dismissed it as just having the girls there putting the idea in my mind."

"So are you saying my girls are having dirty thoughts at this young age?" Paige asked, confused.

"No, Paige. The thoughts were from Coop because he's a cupid and all and he gives off this great wave of love, I suppose, because it's what he's made of. So maybe for a few seconds it just skipped over love and went straight into thoughts of _wanting_ to make love...?" Phoebe speculated, confusing herself in the process.

"Or possibly Coop just wanted to have s-e-x with you while watching my kids," Paige commented, biting her lip. "Possibly the last time you guys watch my kids when Coop is _excited_. Back to your power. Remember how you were kinda barking at me back in the alley?"

"I wasn't barking, Paige. Just a little more frustrated," Phoebe replied.

"Yeah, and it seemed as if the demon was waiting for your power to come back," Paige responded, looking down at Sarah and smiling at her. Even when times seemed dark, her children helped her glimpse that not every memory and existence had Hell to blame.

"How do you figure that?" Phoebe asked.

"The demon didn't threaten us with a 'I'll be back, witch' or anything like that. He saw you levitate and left. Once again, the power isn't much of a vanquishing threat, but it's as if he just wanted to see your powers come back, which makes sense with everything we learned about the demons," Paige explained, swaying Sarah a little slower as she began to fall asleep. "So as for your empathy, the demon was frustrated that he had to keep taking shots from you until your power came...."

"... And I got a hit of frustration when you weren't doing anything to attack him," Phoebe finished. "Wow, we are two smart witches." She grinned as she carried the Matthews Book of Shadows to the table and searched for the proper potion ingredients. "So assuming we nail this guy, does this mean my powers are still going to surface?"

"I would think so. The cards have been dealt, we just gotta make sure we take care of the demons," Paige responded, walking to the door. "Just make the potion and we'll find a way to locate the demon."

"So is this how it feels being one of your charges?" Phoebe asked, grinning as she grabbed a handful of yellow sand to filter into the cauldron, laying the copper pot with a thin layer.

"Not really. I tend to baby them a little more. You taught me how to be a witch, so I know you're fine. I'm sure the reason behind this Whitelighter stuff will pop up sooner or later," Paige replied, then looked down at her daughter. "But give me a couple of minutes as I go do the Mommy-thing."

**(X)**

The ember inside the torches fixed along the walls always seemed to brave the powerful, chilling winds that would enter this Deep South district of the Underworld. Webs with tough threads hung from torch to torch as well as shackles which weren't used for centuries. This chamber used to be filled with all sorts of ornaments which were even marveled about by the demons honored enough to be in the presence of the leader, and even those who were forced to work under the great Queen's command. When the time came for her to be banished, the tyrant was imprisoned in her own chambers and all of her personal items in the room helped construct the door that caged her. Now, there stood a great thirty foot door constructed of enchanted iron and copper with different colors amongst it. In the center of it all was half of a tinted red sphere attached to the metal door which was the lock on the monster behind it.

Footsteps of three people kicked the red sand around and Avo proudly lead Rose and Reynold in the center of them towards the towering door. "This is it." The grim being cupped his chin with his palm and rubbed it, impressed. "It seems larger since I first found it."

"How did you find it?" The betraying Whitelighter asked, wearing the golden Messenger robes the Elders had given him. He was a personal traitor to the Heavens.

"I knew of her power. Ever since I decided to put my plan in motion to destroy the Witchlighter, I knew she would most likely use her charges as comrades to lead a battle against me," Avo explained as he took steps forward, Rose grinning proudly behind him. "I wanted a power that I could trust in. At first I considered Podero Maximo, but the calamity that power causes can even make me shiver. It's too dark, but I was raised on the stories of Valen. The demonic Queen of her own empire, often rivaling Hecate."

"Hecate's powers don't match Valen's," Rose commented, smirking as she felt closer to the demon she was about to share her body with. "I've endured so much pain and learned too many great things that I laugh at the idea of Hecate posing any threat to Valen." She walked closer to the door as her jet black hair slid off of her shoulders. The demonic witch was wearing a seductive black leather jacket with a violet shirt underneath. The black jeans tight against her legs exposed her stunning figure and her spine tingled as she touched the great metal door. "Ooh, I can just feel her running in my body now."

Avo watched Rose better acquaint herself with the door by sliding both of her palms around it, trailing it in a circle. "I knew I found the proper person to host it."

"Please, Avo, you beat me through grueling exercises to be the proper person," Rose replied, still enjoying the sensation of touching the door. "Not that I mind though. Being promised power is too seductive to resist and I'll finally be able to gain my revenge on that lackey witch of the Witchlighter."

"Why do you hold such a grudge against Billie?" Reynold asked, unaware of the events at Magic School as Rose often found herself too superior to speak with him.

Today was she was in a better mood. She turned her back to the door, before pressing her back against it. She crossed one leg over the other, rubbing her ankles together and she said, "The bitch stabbed me when we were trying to claim Magic School." Rose lifted her shirt to reveal a scar on her chest which was always a reminder of how much she wanted Billie dead. The wound was healed by Avo, but there was only so far a Darklighter can close a wound, so the scar was left. "We had a couple of fights before, but I'm going to get her next time."

Avo's black trench-coat dragged against the ground as the wind continued to whistle through the chamber when no one spoke. "Now that we are in the presence of Valen's power..." he nodded towards the door. "We can carry out creating the portal to allow her in."

"How exactly do we do that?" Rose asked. "You never told me anything about this. You told me I am the Trigger and that I would only need my powers of pyrokinesis and clairvoyance!" Sapphire flames began to dance in between her fingers as she grew furious Avo left her in the dark about something, unaware of how small or big the information was.

"It shouldn't hurt and this isn't me judging on how much pain you've been able to endure since training," Avo said. "You do have a tattoo on your neck, don't you?"

Rose touched the tattoo on the back of her neck. The black rose petals always represented how angry she was when she allowed the ink to touch her skin and the blue sparks of fire that were at the tips of the green vines from the stem symbolized why she was angry. It was a reflection on how her sapphire fire killed her mother. "Yeah, I do. What to it?"

Avo touched the markings on his face and asked, "Well, do you like mine? It's time for me to give you your own markings. A special sigil on your face that will act as a portal for Valen to enter you. Ready?"

Rose turned her back to the demonic Darklighter and said loud enough, "I've been meaning to get inked up again."

**(X)**

Orbs shimmered around two separate glows and the orbs increased as the glows grew. Paige and Phoebe materialized on the highest tower of Golden Gate Bridge, both in jackets as the winds furiously blew their hair around. Phoebe tucked her hands into the pockets of her brown jacket, feeling both vanquishing potions in each pocket. She screamed over the winds at Paige, "How the hell are we supposed to meditate with all this wind?"

Paige held out her hands, hoping to cease Phoebe's complaining, and responded, "It'll calm down in a few, but you have to understand that it's the _wind_. We can't do much with all our witchy powers about it, so suck it up, and sit down." The Witchlighter lowered down to the red platform, folding her legs as she awaited her half-sister to do the same.

The elder sister walked over to the edge of the platform and admired how high they were. This had been her first time up on this tower since Leo's descent from grace, but it was the height that kept her amazed. She muttered, "If only my power could take me this high..."

Having trained herself to tune out the winds to avoid it from interrupting her, Paige heard her sister despite how quiet she was and said, "Maybe one day your power will enhance, but right now we have to make you drag out your empathic ability so you'll be able to defend yourself against the demons."

Phoebe turned back to her half-sister, impressed by how well she could tune out the winds. "Paige, we're not experts in empathy. It wasn't long before I received it that it was taken away and I've pretty much forgotten how to even call on it." She walked back over to Paige and stood directly across from her.

"Phoebe, we're sisters, and for the day, I'm your Whitelighter. We'll figure this out together," Paige assured and then pointed down to the platform. "Now sit and let's get started. I got three kids at home with one husband, so the quicker the better."

The witch reluctantly sat and said, "Don't try to make me feel guilty. Coop should be on his way to help him." She folded her legs and pressed her palms against her kneecaps.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, you're no stranger to meditating so this should be easy," Paige reminded, closing her eyes as she only felt the wind push against her porcelain-toned skin and ignored all the whistling. "Just focus on that feeling of your power rising... The one you've been familiar with all week... Embrace it." She disturbed her own meditation by peeking with her right eye and was glad to see her sister was being obedient. After instructing her sister, Paige began to reflect on things going on in her life. Her own struggles which had been bothering her.

The Witchlighter mentally called upon a cloud of dazzling orbs beneath her, which lifted her one foot above the platform top. The orbs continued to dance from under her and it looked as if the orbs were chasing one another. Paige mentally stabled the orbs to remain beneath, knowing that if she stopped concentrating, they would orb away and she'd land with a thud. She kept the picture in mind as she reflected on thoughts of how her family was seeming to make a turn for the better, but...

"You're scared that just because you remarry Henry, there won't be much of a change..." Phoebe stated, deeply channeling her sister. "You have brooding thoughts which are only clouding your vision from starting over. You're both excited and terrified and this makes you feel torn even more. After all, how are you supposed to know how you feel about a subject with mixed thoughts?" The witch remained still, not even registering she was using her empathic ability.

"Uh, Phoebs?" Paige called out, surprised Phoebe's ability returned so early and at the fact that her sister was floating a foot higher than her with her legs still crossed and eyes shut closed. She looked up and called out again, "Phoebe!"

The empathic sister finally heard Paige's voice and not her thoughts. Her eyes opened and didn't see her half-sister across from her as she did when she first sat down. She looked down to see Paige sitting on a cushion of orbs and looked down under herself to see nothing but a hard fall coming if she released her bind on her levitation. "Whoa! This levitating has to stop sneaking up on me."

"And your empathy needs to mind its business," Paige quipped. "You were reading me like a book."

"I was, wasn't I? I took your advice and started searching within my power, but since my power is more of a power that calls out to other people, I guess I instantly channeled you," Phoebe rambled, shaking the back of her head as she slowly hovered down. Her bottom reached the solid top and said, "I didn't even realize I was levitating."

"Just like your levitation, I'm assuming your empathy came back with a kick," the youngest figured and then looked down at her new engagement ring. The same one that was considered for her mother. "I guess you know all about my arctic cold feet now, huh?" She shrugged her shoulders as she mentally forced the orbs to carry her back down as well. After obeying, the orbs vanished.

"Sweetie, there's nothing wrong with cold feet. I mean, sure, you're already married to the guy so it's not like he can leave you at the altar or anything without getting backhanded when you go home, but I'm sensing something more than just fear of losing yourself more..." Phoebe said, trying to identify what was going on. Her eyes widened when she realized, "I've been feeling the same thing for the past couple of days. I'm feeling it even more now."

"Feeling what?" Paige asked.

"Something big is coming. I sense you sense it and it's in your good interest to believe that I sense it as well," the empath said. "You have a _quiet_ feeling that is whispering to you that you may not be able to stop it either. If I was sensing it with a dormant power, it's likely it's a really great Evil." The psychic stood up and helped a stunned Paige to her feet.

"How are you sensing this from me? This hasn't even been a concern of mine," Paige said.

"Then maybe it's a concern you'll be feeling soon. The word of the day is 'dormant' and I'm assuming my empathy swan dived into all your thoughts and caught word on this coming Evil," Phoebe assumed. "So what do we do? Book of Shadows?"

"No, we gotta go deal with your demons right now before they catch us at a bad moment. If there is a great Evil on the way, I'll deal with it then," Paige walked over to Phoebe and said, "Let's just hope we can use your empathy to find Galtier and his gang." Before Phoebe could object as she found the coming Evil more important, Paige orbed the two of them towards the Underworld.

**(X)**

Cameron and Billie entered his mother's office, led in by Deirdre. This had been Billie's first time meeting the High Priestess of the coven as she always had too much filling her agenda to grace the young witch with her presence. Even being in her office was an honor for the sorceress-to-be.

Billie marveled at the circular room which was adorned by various portraits, photos, and prints. She walked over to one board which held the various photos of families who delivered captured cherished moments to Annabelle in appreciation of the coven saving them from terrible forces. She moved along the lines, not acknowledging she was just wandering around without permission, but did hear Deirdre whisper something to Cameron which she couldn't make out. She figured it best to leave it alone.

She came across a large poster in a glass case which held an illustration of the coven's emblem; the crimson phoenix with its wings stretched out and was marked on every assassin in these walls. Under the emblem was the full Phoenix Charter which had seen many changes over the years, but lately for the better. "You guys manage to follow all these rules?" She turned back to the two Phoenixes present and said, "I had trouble with not chewing gum in class alone."

"We're a little more strong-willed, I suppose," Deirdre scathingly stated. She placed a hand on her waist, wishing Billie would challenge her in any form. She held a great dislike for her which linked back to her betrayal during the time of the Ultimate Battle for the Charmed Ones.

Billie ignored her as she continued to make her way around the room and nearly bumped into the black oval table with leather padding on the top, existing around a flat squared surface to write on. Amongst the table were papers on requested hits and charts which kept tab on the amount of required hits from each Phoenix per month. On the flat surface was a crystal ball with a light purple tint and a black base.

This room made quite the impression on Billie, but her favorite part of the room was the Phoenix Charter and her gaze returned to the phoenix emblem.

"It's funny to think the sight of that thing used to repulse me."

Billie turned around at the new voice and saw the proud Priestess of the coven enter from around her son and Deirdre. Her curly blonde hair bounced as she made her way towards Billie in a smart gray jacket with matching pants and a black silk top underneath. She extended her hand to Billie and said, "I'm Annabelle."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Billie," she replied, shaking her hand.

Annabelle made her way over to her desk and said, "Deirdre, you're dismissed. We'll continue our conversation later."

"Yes, High Priestess," the brunette responded, slightly bowing before leaving the office and closing the door behind her.

"So what'd you find?" Cameron asked. "Whereabouts of Christy or a way to help Billie?" He moved closer to Billie and stood by her side.

Annabelle could've sworn she detected something from her son, but passed it off for the moment. "I've had some of our best researchers on this for months and we've finally come to a solution." She stood behind her desk and placed her palms flat down, "As you very well know, there have been many, many factors that could've been the cause to come into sorcery. We just had to watch the steps we take because we didn't want any pissed off spirits on our hands or unfortunate backfires."

"Whatever it is, thanks for helping me out so much," Billie thanked. "You've given me hospitality and access to resources, but I guess it takes an expert to read in between the lines."

"You would think, but I nearly kicked myself along with a load of other people because we didn't even think to suggest this sooner," the head mercenary removed her palms from her desk as she swooped up the crystal ball from the base. "We had spent our time devoted to research on how to help a witch find the inner sorceress in her and that's where we were wrong. Though you can't blame us because from what Cameron tells me, the Elders weren't of much help either. We at least found you answers."

"Go on, Mother," an impatient Cameron requested. Ever since coming into her position, she often kept him waiting as she pulled out the punches.

Annabelle rolled her eyes at the interruption, not registering how reasonable it was. She continued, "Sorceresses, as you very well know, have access to very special magical elements which go beyond a witch's restriction. Powerful witches can call upon the dead, but a powerful sorceress can command spirits to do her bidding."

"Whoa, wait? I'll be able to command spirits?" Billie asked, turning to Cameron in shock.

"Well, yeah. I gotta say right now though, don't go searching for dead relatives as the spiritual world is a dynamically large one. It could take decades to find two spirits and call them into the physical plane," Annabelle explained, then carried on. "Being a sorceress as well pertains to you to use ritualistic tools to aid in your magic, knowledge of symbols, talismans, the ability to make proper magical circles which can act as a crystal cage, but better. Did you know all of this?" Annabelle asked.

"Some of it," Billie meekly answered. "I actually was writing in an old notebook of mine and collecting facts on being a sorceress and I managed to draw up a chart comparing the two species and..."

Annabelle held up her hand and stopped Billie. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have a coven to run and I'd like for you to find your sister as soon as possible. It's definitely been a long journey for you." She walked over and handed Billie the crystal ball. She turned to Cameron and asked, "Please go get my candles from inside my desk. The purple ones, if you will." She returned to Billie as her son obliged and said, "I just gave you a little lesson on the spirit world, but there's one thing to talk about it and another thing to actually do it. I want you to find someone for me."

"How is that going to help me with Christy?" Billie asked as she looked at the crystal ball, not seeing anything.

"I'm helping you embrace your sorceress nature. We've lost so much time on researching information that didn't exist. There's nothing to be found on converting a witch into sorceress without ridding the benign in them, but by helping you use a tool famous in sorcery circles, we're more likely to tap into the power and make it surface. Traveling through the world of the dead requires much power and we're hoping that might be enough to finally drag that lurking sorceress spirit out of you," Annabelle explained. "Even if you have to stay in so long that you end up pulling her out by the hair." She smiled at Billie, which helped make the witch ease into this.

"So who am I searching for?" Billie asked as she watched Cameron set up a circle of candles around Annabelle and herself.

"You're not expected to find anyone as of this moment, you are still a witch, but the real fun begins once you convert before us," Annabelle smirked. "Search for your grandmother, the witch one; Jamie Reed."

"Why her? Wouldn't I be interrupting her spirit by calling upon her?" Billie asked.

"Of course and that's the danger that comes with the spirit world. This is precisely how to piss a spirit off. Those who have been able to rest, don't like being shoved out of the way while you project your own spirit into the world to find someone," Annabelle explained, stepping outside of the circle and handed her son a lighter from her jacket pocket. "This is why sorceresses and sorcerers don't generally do this unless they are well trained. It's not only sorceresses who can do this. Almost anyone can, I have a couple of special assassins who actually enter the spirit world when we suspect there's a ghost who escaped and have to confirm this so we can find them and take them out."

"It's not fun either," Cameron said as he walked around lighting the candles in a clockwise circle. "The spirits glare at you and sometimes do the whole 'Boo!' thing they do. It's not so much scary as it is annoying."

"What were you doing there?" Billie asked.

Cameron turned to his mother where she only looked down to the floor. "It's not of any importance, Billie." He finished lighting the candles and gave his mother back her lighter. "What you need to do now is just stay inside the circle and gaze into the crystal. See past the glass and find your way in there. We're not allowed to tell you what to envision because if you truly are the sorceress you're supposed to be, you'll figure it out on your own."

"Okay," Billie said, getting down on her knees and placing the crystal ball before her. The two Phoenixes present just watched as her cerulean eyes gazed in. She mentally conjured an image of what she expected to see of the spirit world. Gray, lots of gray. The gray represented a confused, but safe plane. A plane where both forces ignore their respective raising and embrace neutrality. The ones who dared oppose the grand rule of this plane would be evicted because if they were attached to feelings of vengeance, they wouldn't contribute to the harmony. And if someone couldn't accept their death, they'd be required to leave as well as it would only disrupt and possibly taint the other spirits who have accepted their fate. It was then that Billie's image inside the crystal ball was clear.

_A gray atmosphere with heavy mists flowing around the plane resembled space with pitch black skies and no point of end to be confirmed. Spirits nearly resembled the tone of the envelopes of gray energy around them and when looked at as a whole, and not individual spirits, it looked like a plane of gray grass with some blades taller than the others. What Billie didn't expect to see when she gazed into the crystal ball, was a projection of herself inside of it. Unlike the others, she was surrounded by a thin purple glow which all the other spirits instantly spotted. She cautiously walked around, not intending to bump through the crowd of spirits but couldn't help herself with this overpopulating gathering. _

_She looked over shoulders as the spirits remained fixated on her and whispered to each other. Some were jealous and others were confused, but it was the jealous ones who were risking banishment from this world. Whether or not that would be the case was going to be decided on how long Billie presided this world as their thoughts would remain clear once she leaves. All of their thoughts would. _

_Billie was losing herself in the crowd. She had no idea how to return to her body and even less of an idea on how to distinguish spirits from her family. She unknowingly bumped into a great ancestor of hers, but only apologized and moved on. Maybe a hundred spirits away, Billie managed to catch sight of a woman with long brown hair conversing with two people who looked a lot like her parents. Even more, they felt a lot like her parents. She began to charge through the crowd, knocking spirits out of the way before her eyes were clouded with a purple glow that completely enveloped her and..._

She returned to her body with a sharp gasp. She held her chest as she was no longer catatonic and looked up to Cameron and Annabelle, but noticed her eyes were still covered in a light purple tint as the outlines were of a bolder pink. They appeared to be half as shocked as she was when she held out her arms to see a full purple glow resonating with a low humming noise. The witch didn't even bother to ask what was happening with her. She already knew. The glow continued to dowse her as she stood to her feet, not being able to see the full effect of wavering lights behind her. As she took in a deep breath, she swallowed all the light in one huge gulp and the witch was no more. The sorceress was finally present. "Wow..." was the first word she breathed with her new magical status. She felt different.

"That's one way to put it," Annabelle said with a smirk. "Congratulations. You've just moved up on the chart of magical beings. You've upgraded, to say the least. Now go and find your sister."

Billie put her hands to her mouth in excitement and dropped them. "Thank you so much for everything you and your coven have done for me." She turned to Cameron, "Meet me back at Paige's, okay?" The blonde turned around and quickly left the room.

Cameron turned to his mother as the door closed, "Was it really this necessary to lead her on for all these months?"

"Yeah, it was. This gave her time to actually learn about what she's about and what will be expected of her with this new power. Also, I needed her to trust you and this coven. She understands what we're about, so hopefully this will be easier for her," Annabelle explained, then grabbed her son's arm as he was about to leave. "I see how you look at her, Cameron. When around other Phoenixes, I suggest you be a little more subtle. We tend to catch the little hints that other people overlook." She pulled him in closer and said, "The time has finally come. Be sure to stay with her every step of the way." She looked down, feeling remorseful for what she was asking of her son. "As much as I would hate for you to sever that trust, this is in the greater interest of us all. She's a threat and you know what we do with threats."

Cameron broke loose of his mother's grip and walked through the circle of candles and to the door. He opened it and stopped before turning back to her, "We eliminate them." He bowed his head in silence as he left the room.

**(X)**

"We're getting closer," Phoebe informed as she lead Paige through the Underworld. "As we wait to find these guys, we really need to talk about what we're going to do with this coming Evil."

"Phoebe, I think it might end up being more of a Power of One thing rather than a Power of Three gig. I appreciate you wanting to help, but I think it's going to end up being left in my hands," Paige assumed as she looked around the lair. "Also, as soon as I get back home, I'm going to see what I can do about getting my hands on one of those empath blocking potions."

Phoebe scoffed, "It's very likely that I'll be able to control my power better, so there's no need. It's just nice to finally have my powers back, I've been on edge without them. It's that whole calm-before-the-storm feeling I've been working up and with a psychic hit on a coming Evil, I feel like that tide is about to wash over us." She put a hand to her forehead as she grew concerned about whatever it was that was on its way.

"Look, I don't need you freaking out and telling me what feeling I'm about to be feeling before I feel it. Okay?" Paige rambled as the two of them entered a new cave. They spotted a couple of demons rubbing their hands over a fire and the empath and Witchlighter halted.

"Demons," Phoebe muttered.

"I _know_," Paige replied in a sing-song voice. "Let's just vanquish 'em and keep on moving." The Witchlighter moved further in and shouted, "Hey!"

The demons looked up and quickly manifested fireballs which rapidly rotated around their palms. They both snarled before lunging the fireballs forward at the two sister witches.

Paige held out both of her hands and shouted, "Fireballs!" The fireballs materialized in a shell of orbs, which reappeared in Paige's hands before she telekinetically launched them back at the demons, vanquishing them. "Moving on," Paige said as she and Phoebe continued to move forward down the lair. "There's just so much going on right now and I don't want to think about another big bad making its way into my life. I'm still looking over my shoulder for Avo and Rose, I'm in the process of raising three kids, strengthening my marriage before I remarry him, I gotta start drawing up some illustrations for P3's final night and-"

"Whoa, wait!" Phoebe stopped Paige. "Piper's closing the club? How come she didn't tell me?"

"I forgot. She said 'you snooze, you lose'," Paige informed, continuing to walk with Phoebe following suit. "She wanted you to come to breakfast with us, but you were too busy battling demons, I guess."

They entered the next lair and this one was just a passage. Along the walls were black fences and in the corners of the room were pillars of fire. The fire created a warm orange glow set around to allow better sighting of the cave. Steel chains ran from wall to wall, creating a cubed perimeter where a silver cauldron rested on a black steel tripod. The presences in the room, besides the two witches, consisted of the demon they battled earlier along with two other demons.

While one of the demons matched the pawn, the King, Galtier, was in a gray velvet robe with dirty blond hair and a steel chest plate. He spotted the two intruders and boomed across the lair, "Two Charmed Ones inviting themselves into my lair. You hypocrites have no right to complain about demons coming in and out of your homes."

"We do when you touch our things," Paige replied.

"Kill the Whitelighter. Drain the witch," Galtier instructed to his demons.

Phoebe soon found herself locked in combat with the demon she battled earlier. She first threw her fist into his nose, before catching him off guard with a roundhouse kick to his chin when he bowed back down. This kick knocked him to the ground and she looked over at Galtier who looked as if he was about to join the fight, "You wait your turn!"

Paige impressively tangled her opponent in the chains running around the lair with her telekinetic abilities. She looked over to one of the four pillars of fire and telekinetically forced a good amount of it off the pillar and into the demon. Paige took a step back as he quickly combusted with distant screams following. The Witchlighter turned to Galtier when she saw him lunge an athamae towards Phoebe and she quickly gestured towards the minion, "Athamae!" The blade orbed around Phoebe as the witch watched on and plunged into the demon on the ground with the orbs vanishing once the contact was made.

Phoebe curtly waved as her opponent of the day blew up on the ground in non-threatening flames. The witch looked up at Galtier, "You really should hire some better help."

"All isn't lost yet," the demon said. He manifested a fireball of his own which burned brighter than the ones previously seen. He hurled it forwards and Paige and before the Witchlighter could reverse it back herself, she saw the fireball rebound in the air and jet back towards its sender. The fireball crashed against the steel plate, scorching it. Galtier turned to Phoebe and said, "It appears that power is stronger than I thought."

"It's especially useful when working against an angry demon such as yourself," Phoebe replied. "You're basically sharpening the sword for me with your emotions. I've already gotten my powers back at full rate. There's no way you can stop me now."

"You tell him!" Paige rooted on, grinning.

"If that's the case, then..." Galtier stopped as he fired off two more attacks at Phoebe this time.

Phoebe gracefully ascended into the air with the levitating assist and pulled out a vanquishing potion from her jacket. She stopped in the air as she threw the potion down at Galtier, slamming into his chest plate. It was apparently powerful enough to leave a dent as the witch remained in the air to have a sky view of watching the blast throw him to the ground where the flames caged him in. After a few seconds, the fire blasted up a couple of feet, leaving nothing but the chest plate and ashes. The witch lowered down and proudly grinned. "We didn't even have to resort to the emergency potion," she said, tapping the potion in the other pocket.

"So it feels good having your powers back?" Paige asked, knowing the answer. "I would hope so since you made a point to mention it on Thanksgiving, Christmas, brunch at Piper's..."

"A lot of times, I get it. It's good to have _my_ powers back," the empathic witch looked at her engagement ring. "Being able to teleport isn't my cup of coffee."

"At least you'll no longer be on edge and you can feel safe knowing you can take care of yourself," Paige said. "I guess this concludes your Whitelighter-for a-day."

Phoebe hugged her half-sister and said, "Thanks for being there for me. You're right, it just feels good to know that I'm safer with my powers so I don't have to be dependent on this ring or anything. Even if I don't battle another demon for months, it just feels good knowing I don't have to call on my baby sister to help me tag team it." She broke the hug and grinned.

"Aw, shucks, let's not get so emotional," Paige said, taking her hand. "You are welcome, though. You can pay me back by helping with the kids." The two vanished the lair in joint columns of orbs.

**(X)**

Rose touched the dry sigil on her the right side of her face. The black ring around her eye bolded perfectly over her sensual olive skin with a couple of gray spikes extending from the ring, "That didn't even hurt."

"I never said it would," Avo replied. "We're now ready. This will require you to use both of your original powers. You will need pyrokinesis to act as our key as you melt down the gate and use your clairvoyance to guide Valen out, inviting her into your vessel. The portal won't be enough. She might be so full of rage that she may just explode in anger and search for anyone to possess. Being trapped by your own servants alone is insulting, but it must be highly suffocating in there. Free her and give her the first breath of her new life."

Rose rubbed her palms together as she harshly whispered, "Of course." Sapphire flames appeared around her wrist and she quickly willed them to run up her arm. The roaring flames continued to add on as she charged her attack. When she felt it was enough as it was getting to a point where her entire body was radiating sapphire flames, she screamed as she held her palms out directly at the door. The flames raced ahead and crashed against the metal door with the flames continuing to pour out from her palms. The demonic witch screamed maniacally as the power continued to build against her metallic opponent and shook the foundations of the cave.

Reynold tried to maintain his balance at the frightening site while Avo proudly watched on. His plans were finally being set to motion and it all started with recruiting Rose by manipulating her when it seemed apparent she was forced to decide between Paige and himself.

The fire melted away at the red stone and ignited crimson sparks. A hole finally began to melt in the door. All the others who tried to break Valen free couldn't be successful, but with Rose's intense flames, the door held no match. As she finally blasted a full hole in, a bone chilling scream echoed out and the demonic witch tapped into her clairvoyant abilities as she finally stopped burning the gate. Blasts of smoke and burnt metal was a side effect, but Reynold was the only one who seemed disturbed by the smell. Rose looked through Valen's _eyes_ and in turn, managed to replace her vision with her own as a demonic advancement of her training. Rose found the vision to be cloudy and understood why as Valen flew out of the prison in a large funnel of surging navy smoke which funneled into Rose's eyes.

The portal drawn on her face made the possession instant. Rose was knocked back a couple of steps at the profound hit and then braced herself as Valen began to rule over her body. Rose's soul was defending itself against the ancient demon as Valen was making room for herself. Rose's soul was practically tossed as low in her body as possible as Valen took over. Rose's beautiful olive skin hardened as her irises glowed and then permanently turned sapphire blue. Rose's jet black hair instantly gained gray streaks as a nod to Valen's age.

When it was all done, Rose was only a host to be possessed and would share her young life with an ancient demon living inside her. They would share her body. Rose and Valen were now one and the same. The higher power known as Valen now existed inside a fresh body, one strong enough to contain it, and its wisdom could now be spoken through Rose's lips. While Valen was once a mind of her own, that was when she ruled countless years back. To exist in this new world, she had to coexist with another without argument.

The ancient demon took the first breath of her new life and she whispered, "I see the air."

Reynold was confused. "You see the air? Air can't be seen."

While Rose knew Reynold was a Whitelighter, the new Rose possessed with an ancient demon just willed a flicker of her power to learn this information without questioning it. She continued to admire the air from inside, "Colors you can never imagine. Colors you don't even know exist. They glide in the air with glorious patterns. Your perception isn't worthy of seeing this sight, neither was mine when I was banished." Rose moved her neck around and an unnerving crack made Reynold cease any further questioning.

"Valen... You Queen of Demons. It's great to see you," Avo grinned. "You're under my order now."

The demon looked at him and said, "I sense your power and while you're no threat to me, you've had me freed and allowed me to see, breathe, walk, and speak again. I need my revenge, old friend. But I need it for two wars – the one that imprisoned me all those years back as well as my pursuit to destroy another for a scar I now wear."

"Ah, Rose. She has a quarrel she wants to pursue with this little witch. You have more than enough power to take her down," the demonic Darklighter informed.

"There's that battle, but there's another as well. One too personal that I never wanted to say aloud but always intended on doing. This is a buried aggression. It's a kill I wish to pursue," Rose pensively replied in a voice that never seemed to quiver in fear or enjoy humor. It was petrifying and solemn. "As I now share my body with the Great Queen Valen, I'll use my abilities to make my victim suffer."

"Did Rose know she was going to be possessed? Like _this_?" Reynold asked. "I know it's her speaking, just with thoughts mended from Valen, but it's not the same. Rose was just expecting powers I'm sure, but I bet if a battle of freewill was to launch between the two, Valen could crush her from within."

Rose grew tiresome and turned to the Whitelighter. "You are to remain silent from this point on. Need I threaten you again, I'll be restricting what you can and can't think. It'd be in your greatest of interest to follow this order or suffer a pain far worst than anything the Elders could've ever threatened you with. A punishment that makes you cry for the poison of a Darklighter's arrow." She walked closer to Reynold and said, "Some demons say it, but I'm the one that means it."

Reynold couldn't bear to gaze into her intimidatingly beautiful sapphire blue eyes. Perhaps he was wrong in deciding to join this side. He would've be safer in the heavens, but if he dared turn on them now, when they finally did attack, it wouldn't be any easier for him. He wanted to show her his understanding, but figured it best just to remain silent. His stature alone showed he heard her.

"Quite the leash you've lassoed on there. Now who is you'd like to kill?" Avo asked.

Rose's eyes began to fiercely glow and a few feet from them, a bald demon with sunglasses, gray muscle shirt and black jeans appeared in shimmers on the floor. The man was yelling in pain and this was all because of how Valen's power crumbled the bones in his leg before instantly shimmering him to this lair by force. She answered, "My father."

"Sunglasses?" Avo questioned, folding his arms. He inspected the broken demon, knowing what he was instantly by the black-tongue sigil across his neck. "He must've been up on the surface world. He's an Incubus."

Rose took a step towards the sexually active demon and said, "Hello, Dad." The demon only looked up at her, confused. "See? This is what you gain when you force an impregnation on a woman. While you may recruit for Evil, there's eventually going to be one bitch who doesn't appreciate what you did what you did to her mother." She held up her hands and said, "I guess that would be me now." Sapphire beams ejected from the core of Rose's palms and instantly vaporized her father. Nothing was left. No distant ghostly screams. No ashes. Nothing apart from the everlasting pain he'd experience in another deathly realm where he would only repeat the pain of the agonizing blast for the rest of eternity. Rose believed that there would be a chance that the world was destroyed in two separate cycles before eternity finally ended.

"What is to be expected of me, Avo? You've gone through all this trouble to free me and I'd like to know what you want from it?" Rose asked.

"You're to help me destroy the Witchlighter, but on my terms. I want to truly benefit from her death," Avo explained. "Let's set up a base right now though. I'll give you the honors."

Rose held out her arms as she began to rebuild her lair with _new_ ancient abilities. Valen was back and hell was on the way for those who opposed her. In shimmering gold, silver, and sapphire lights, the base began to construct itself to a cleaner image. The sight of the sandy floor was replaced with a silver marble floor with glistening patterns of blue sprinkles spread amongst it. The trail of silver floor was leading out of the lair, going as far as Rose pleased.

She willed the walls to be covered with all the metal that caged Valen for so long, They ripped off from each other and telekinetically slammed against the cave walls, shaking it greatly once more. Debris exploded in furious clouds of smoke as the new walls smoldered. Rose stared at the empty space Valen was forced to call home for so long. She replaced it with a nod of her head and a sapphire blue light dazzled from her eyes and exploded against the ground, going up in flames of the same color.

The floor didn't explode, but when the sapphire flames vanished, the new construction of a metallic black throne materialized on a gray stage of six feet high. Pillars reaching as high as the newly domed ceiling appeared all around and Rose was content for now. She ceased all magic and turned to Avo, "This is now home again." She rapidly spun around and said, "Father Time is informing me I should gather my army now."

**(X)**

Henry bounced Peter on his knee as they all hung out in the kitchen and Peter was laughing hysterically at this simulating bumper car ride. The twins rested in separate bassinets as Phoebe and Coop hovered over them.

Paige grinned as she continued to tell the story of the day's events, "... and Miss Phoebe here flew up into the air and casually threw a potion at the demon and sent him going _poof_."

"Nice work," Coop complimented, kissing her on the cheek.

"Since I have my empathy back, I learned a little something." She turned to Coop and said, "You wanna have a kid. Admit it."

"Uh..." Coop rubbed the back of his head at the pressure of admitting it. "Sorta. Maybe. Yeah." He hugged Phoebe and said, "Though I think I can use some more practice."

"You can borrow the twins for an afternoon," Henry suggested. "I love these girls, but these days are tough to manage when I'm alone." He turned to Paige and said, "It makes me hate my days off and your destiny a bit."

"Mommy needs to get out, so it makes me love it," Paige replied with a small grin.

"Finally!" Billie's voice shouted from upstairs.

"I'm going to go and see what that's about," Paige said as she left the kitchen, making her way up the stairs. She turned into Billie's bedroom where she saw a large map laid out on the bed. Christy's purple tracking stone was in the same hand as an amethyst scrying crystal. "What happened?"

Billie didn't even look up and simply replied, "Christy."

**End of Chapter. **


	22. In The Line of Fire

**Chapter 22 – In The Line of Fire**

**Teaserline:** It's firestarter season...

_**June 9th, 2007**_

The tattered home on Wellington Road was always avoided by the children and young teenagers in the neighborhood because of the aggressive man who lived there. He hated the youth entering his private property because they always had a tendency to run around his field which was layered with crushed blades of grass, dirt scattered amongst the dead flowers, and littered with beer cans. The strangest thing the owner ever found on his lawn was a young nude woman appear in flames and she was too beautiful to resist, so he took her home like an abandoned animal, despite her frightening entrance. It wasn't long before the reputation of this house changed from fear of the man who owned it, to the house where tales of his agonized shouting haunted the place...

**(X)**

It was early morning when orbs materialized a couple of feet inside from the destroyed fence and quickly gathered around to culminate into two figures as the accompanying jingle was silenced. Paige and Billie appeared and the newfound sorceress looked to her sides as she awaited her mercenary ally. Particles quickly swarmed into view and spun around in their normal fashion before constructing Cameron who dressed for the weather with a sleeveless gray top with wind-breakers to match his black sneakers. "Damn, it's hot."

"No kidding," Billie replied as she pulled out her sunglasses from the pockets of her blue jeans and quickly hung them over her ears to guard her eyes from the sun's overwhelming glare. She looked toward the house and said, "So do we just walk in? What if someone else is with her?"

"That's why we're going to play it safe and knock," Paige explained, feeling the sun radiate its heat towards her bare legs as she comfortably wore her cropped white dress shorts and her sleeveless tan top with black strapped shoes.

"Are you sure you don't want me to particle in and sense who's in there?" Cameron asked as Paige began to walk off with an eager Billie following.

"No," Billie answered, although the question wasn't directed at her. "It's bad enough Paige made me wait until this morning to do this, so I'm not wasting another minute without seeing my sister." Billie sped past Paige and charged for the door with the potions inside her pouch clattering against each other as she gained speed. She jogged up the steps and as she was about to knock, Paige orbed directly in front of her.

"Whoa!" Paige stopped her, holding out her hands before her. "Slow down. Everything I've been saying is logical as you needed that time last night to mentally prepare yourself for whatever Christy's morals are. She might be that sister you're expecting or she might just charge a fireball and send it your way. Who knows? But at least I gave you a few hours to meditate on it."

"Charging crystals to keep me locked up isn't allowing me a few hours to meditate," Billie responded, slightly irritated from last night. "That's holding someone against their will."

"And that very well had to be done! It's my duty to protect you as both your Whitelighter and friend and you were intending on rushing into this with no concerns for others. I have three children at home, and silly me, I actually want to spend some time with them instead of returning home from a vanquish to go Christy hunting," Paige vented, more irritated than Billie because of how much she was being torn from her family. "So as your Whitelighter, I kinda expect you to ignore me a little, but as your _friend_ I ask that you give me some time with my children. One of them being your goddaughter."

Billie frowned and nodded up and down, "You're right. I'm sorry. Really. It was just the adrenaline of finally reaching this point and so much we had to do to get here. I start off with hiding my guilt, then I learn she's alive, then I have to risk my life for a stone, then I have to upgrade who I am, and this was all just to find her alone. I am freaking out about the sister I'm going to find in there, but..." she patted down her pouch and continued, "These aren't to kill my sister. Only for teleporting emergencies in case I have to flee, but no one's dying today."

Cameron felt guilty for what he had to do, but he kept silent.

"Let's hope not," Paige replied, turning her back to Billie as she knocked on the door twice. Paige knew for a fact that if it came down to herself or Christy, she'd guarantee that firestarter would stay down this time as she had too much to live for now.

"So what's the game plan here, Paige?" Cameron asked, folding his arms. "Are we going to ask if there is currently a resident firestarter in this house or if we should be looking two houses down for her?"

Paige rolled her eyes and said, "We don't have to refer to her as a firestarter, but I think I'll ask if there's a girl named Christy here? It might sound crazy, but I'm willing to give that a shot." She knocked another two times and said, "If we so happen to learn that the girl living here throws fire when she's pissed off, we'll consider that an added bonus." Paige knocked harder after not getting a response and shouted, "Hello?! Is anyone home?!" She walked over to the dusty windows and tried to see past, but her vision was blurred.

"Sorry. This patient thing isn't working out for me," Billie said as she twirled her wrist and telekinetically unlocked the door. With a quick wave, she gently pushed it forward and walked closer to physically push it with her hand. The sorceress entered the house with an eye-rolling Paige following and the mercenary behind her.

They all looked around and instantly saw what poor condition the house was in. Spoiled food littered the living room coffee table with roaches stampeding over it, enjoying their meal. The same roaches were climbing into the glasses of soda as they intensely smelled the sweetness of the cola, but ultimately drowned once they ventured too far. Countless flies flew over the food and swooped down for quick bites before continuing their flight amongst the house and multiplied by mating with their identically winged creatures. The vile aroma coming from this house had to be more than just rotten food and they all braced themselves from hurling at that rotten smell as they moved further in.

"No amount of perfume or spray can banish this stench," Paige commented, holding her arm to her nose, but it wasn't enough. The smell had already invaded her nose and stained her clothes as well. She coughed into her arm and said, "This is fowl. I find it hard to believe that anyone lives here, so for Christy's sake, let's hope she's not here either." Billie shot her a look and the Witchlighter defended, "Come on, the Underworld has better smells than here to be perfectly fair."

The three turned when they heard footsteps coming down the creaky stairs. While Paige and Billie remained silent, Cameron held his hand out behind him and prepared to conjure one sai dagger in the case Christy came down attacking.

A balding man in a stained white tank-top with large patches of hair on his arms came down the steps and shouted, "Who the hell are you? You're trespassing!" He came down the steps, furious.

"Please, we don't mean any harm," Paige assured. "I'm sorry, we were knocking for quite a while and no one was responding." The man still looked upset and she continued, "I know it doesn't give us the right to _pick_ the lock, but understand. My name is Paige and we're just looking for someone." She gestured towards Billie and said, "Her sister. We have reason to believe she's here."

"And what gives you that idea?" he fairly asked.

"Is she here or not?" Billie questioned. "This is my sister we're talking about, so don't play any games with me. Have you seen Christy or not?"

Frank didn't bother fighting it anymore. "There's been a girl here, but her name's not Christy; girl named Helga."

"It's possible she could be under another name," Cameron said. "They get memory loss after..." he gestured with his hands to accompany an exploding sound. "If you get what I mean."

Billie glared and dryly replied, "We got it." She turned back to Frank and asked, "So where is _Helga_?"

"She went down to the market a few streets down to pick up some potatoes and garlic," Frank answered. "She should be back soon, but if you wanna go out and look for her, by all means."

"You two go," Cameron suggested. "I'll wait here and give you a call in case she gets back."

The blonde nodded and headed for the door. Paige followed her and stopped at the door as Billie opened it and Paige turned back to Cameron, "Any problems at all, just _call_ out. This isn't something we expect you to handle alone." Her and Billie both left, closing the door behind them.

"Ain't nothin' to handle alone?" Frank repeated. "What she mouthin' about?" The man walked past Cameron and made his way towards the wrecked dining room.

"Nothing you should worry about," Cameron said as he followed him into the kitchen. He spotted the broken chair leg on the floor and examined the rest of the kitchen where he saw the broken chair, cracked table and torched cabinets. Christy was definitely here. "So what happened here?"

"With the kitchen?" Frank asked and turned to see Cameron nod. "Oh, nothing. Just a huge quarrel with the woman of the house. Before Helga, that is." He opened his fridge and said, "Possibly interest you with a glass of water? Beer?" He pulled out a pitcher of beer from the fridge and grabbed a glass, setting it on the table.

"I'm fine. Back to your story; that explains the broken chair legs, but why are the cabinets burnt?" Cameron interrogated. Something was blocking him from fully reading the guy, which was highly suspicious alone.

"Oh, that was just the woman of the house again. Ah, that crazy wench. I still wonder where the hell she is now," Frank explained as he poured the beer into a glass and held it up for Cameron to take. "It's good stuff, go for it." He scoffed at the non-responsive blond. "You tellin' me you can break into my home and not accept a beer from me? Ain't that somethin'?"

"I'm fine," Cameron responded, taking the beer and placed it down on the table. It was one of his early teachings to not swallow any contents from strangers or people he didn't trust at the risk of having a poison or potion mixed in. "So tell me about Helga. How'd you meet her?" Each time Cameron asked a question, he would attempt to invade Frank's thoughts, but was only getting slivers of memory and would be forced out. He had suspicions. And these suspicions led him to conjure one of his sai daggers under the table.

**(X)**

Back at the Mitchell-Matthews manor, Henry cradled Sarah in his arms as he entered the kitchen and said, "I really appreciate you coming over to help me, Sir. Kinda lucky you even heard me."

Sam came walking in behind him with Samantha in his arms and said, "Nonsense. I was waiting on this invitation to meet my grandchildren and I'm glad I did." The Whitelighter looked down at the youngest of the twins who was dressed in a purple shirt with pink shorts and he stared into her honey brown eyes as she innocently sucked on her knuckles. "I heard your call because I was communing with the spiritual forces of Good on the top of Golden Gate bridge. There's some concerns, so I was keeping my ears open."

"Anything we should be concerned about?" Henry asked as he balanced Sarah with one arm and opened the fridge with the other. "Or better yet, anything Paige should be concerned about?" The mortal reached in and grabbed a bottle for the hungry daughter in his possession, aware that her twin was content. He walked over to the microwave as he awaited an answer.

"I hope not," Sam answered, sitting down at the kitchen table and put on a ridiculously silly face which received a smile from his granddaughter. He continued with Henry, "I just want Paige to be able to handle her charges without demons and warlocks coming her way. She's been giving some easier charges as an extensive trial, but some of the stronger ones are on the way. I've personally been keeping tabs on them."

"None are dangerous like Rose, are they?" Henry asked, waiting for the microwave to warm up Sarah's bottle.

"No, but she has a new student on the way. One that if she does her job well, she can begin to lessen her load," Sam answered, then put on a new face for Samantha which took as well as the first. "Let's forget about that for now. How's everything going between you two since the memory lane trip?"

"Pretty well actually. The night we got back we just spoke about what the other saw and we really went into depth about some things," Henry answered, grabbing the bottle from the microwave and let it cool for a couple of seconds.

"Glad to hear. Such as what?" Sam asked. "If it's personal, I won't be offended by the confidentiality."

"No, it's fine. We actually just went over the story on how I got my name and we just had a whole discussion on the possible name my birth parents had for me," Henry answer, feeding his daughter her bottle as he sat down across from Sam. "Paige said I could pass for Freddy, Joe, and she even suggested Ivan. I'm pretty sure I'm not Russian, but she said she was just kidding."

"Are you comfortable with the name you were given?" the Whitelighter asked as he stroked Samantha's light brown hair repeatedly. This helped him feel like he was making up for not being able to raise his daughter.

"Yeah, it's just the name I've always gone by. Even if I ever met my real parents, I would let them know that this is the name that defines me. Not whatever they picked," Henry commented as he continued to his eldest daughter with her bottle.

"I'm surprised to even hear you utter their names. Well, title. Do you if you ever find yourself wondering about them more now?" Sam asked and found Henry remaining silent. "I only ask because you have a wife who is venturing out many paths to discover who she is by collecting as much evidence and useful information as possible. I'm curious if this has had you any effect on you. If you choose to drop it, drop it. I won't pick it back up."

"Thanks, I respect that. I gotta be clean and admit I do a little. Ever since having kids of my own, I've felt a stronger connection to all the questions that come with being adopted. It's not as easy to shrug my shoulders and act like I don't care anymore," Henry admitted.

Peter then walked into the kitchen in his orange footsie pajamas, having finally woken up this morning. He looked up at Sam, oblivious to who this man was, and turned to his foster father. "Is dis a fwend, Henny?"

"This is actually Paige's father, buddy. So this would make him a grandfather of yours. So, Peter, this is Sam. Sam, as you know, Peter," Henry introduced, grinning as he watched Peter try to figure out how to approach this.

Peter scratched at his chin as he often saw Henry do with his constant stubble and finally waved with the other hand, "Hi."

"How are you doing, little fella?" Sam asked.

"Sleepy," Peter answered as he moved over to Henry and sat down next to him. He picked out a tissue from its box and flapped it around to better amuse himself.

"He seems quite bored," Sam implied to Henry who only shrugged. "Hey, Peter. I think there's a carnival going on today. Would you be interested in coming with me to check it out?"

Peter's eyes widened and he began to flail the tissue around in excitement. The boy who was tired less than a minute ago had reached a level of euphoric bliss. "Yes. Yeah!"

Sam turned to Henry, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. With Paige and Billie out, I don't wanna keep him stuck in the house." Henry answered and turned to Peter. "After lunch you can go check it out. Do you want me to go upstairs to help you change?"

"I cans do," Peter answered.

"Alright, I'll have breakfast ready for you when you come back down," Henry informed as Peter threw down the tissue and hopped off of his chair. The mortal watched as his foster son ran around the table and hugged Sam in appreciation. He chuckled as Peter tottered out of the kitchen. "I'm telling you, this kid is easily sold by people. You give him one little toy and he's your best friend."

Sam laughed heartily as he looked back down at Samantha's face. "You have some great children here, Henry. Beautiful baby girls who mirror each other's perfection and a little boy who happened to be accepted into your arms after being dropped into your lap. I intend on being as part as their lives as much as possible, I promise."

"I trust your word, Sir. Thanks for your compliments as well, means a lot. Being a parent is tougher than I thought, but luckily the twins actually enjoy sleeping at night," Henry reflected. "It makes it easier, but this is really pulling me from my work. I know Paige has her responsibilities, but I do as well. It's not fair to my parolees that I have to assign other officers to help with my load because Paige is often tending to charges or everything else she does." He looked down at Sarah, just because he could, and apologized, "You know it's not me speaking ill of my wife, but... It's been hard for me lately to adjust."

"I wish I could be of more help, Henry. I wish I had experiences of my own to pass onto you, but you know very well why I don't. I do suggest you open this to Paige. When you feel the need to vent, you can call on me and then approach her with all your thoughts collected," Sam suggested, standing to sway Samantha back and forth as she began to get fussy in his arms. "Hope that's of some assistance."

"It is," Henry responded. He too stood as Sarah preferred to be higher up in her father's arm then give him the chance to relax his muscles. He looked forward to the times when he would miss being tired from cradling his daughters around.

**(X)**

Paige and Billie walked on the road as the Witchlighter refused to let her shoes collect anymore dirt. "I should really orb home and change into sneakers or something. I don't know why I thought orbing to Austin, Texas, was going to be clean streets and no dirty pavements."

Billie's hands were tucked into her back pockets as she lightly chuckled and said, "We're already here. I'll personally spit shine your shoes when we get home with Christy." The young sorceress seemed confident that Christy would be coming home with her.

"Alright, as we walk down to this market, we should speak about this," Paige started, still uncomfortable with the pebbles that managed to sneak into her shoes. "Remember how I told you about Sandra's concerns? Well, I personally hold all faith that you're not going to team up with Christy if she's acting demonic, but I wanna know what you plan to do is if she is Evil. You refuse to kill her, but she might not share the same view as you."

"I know she might not, but I am really scared the Triad corrupted her too far. What if my sister is too refusal to love or friendship? She might as well be dead if she chooses to associate herself with demons or even go through this world alone," Billie said, bouncing her shoulders as she pulled her hands out of her back pockets. She sighed, "I want my sister to make friends, maybe even attend classes with me, spend nights talking about cute guys and fighting alongside me against demons."

Paige grinned, "I want that for you as well, Billie. I really do. I would like to make a friend in Christy without having a nagging voice in my head that suggests I watch out for everything she does."

The two women spotted the market which they could tell from afar had a poor paint job with most of the white coating chipped off. The red rooftop made it easy to spot, but mainly because of the sign which read 'Market' in glass which most likely used to be in neon colors.

"There we go," Billie clearly pointed out. Both rushed to it, to Paige's best ability with her heels, and approached it. The blonde looked in before opening the glass door with a 24/7 sign on it. Billie quickly scanned the store, as did Paige, but they were the only customers.

"Let's ask the guy at the counter," Paige suggested as she approached the counter. A clean shaven man with a cleft chin was wiping down the counter and she said, "Excuse me. Just a quick question here. Have you seen a young brunette in here? Light eyes, goes by the name 'Helga'? Ring any bells?"

The guy ran his hand through his dark hair as he answered, "There was a girl who went by that name a few months ago. She's actually wanted by the police, so she certainly hasn't been here."

"Why? What did she do?" Billie asked.

"She killed a man. He wasn't the best of people out there, but no one deserved to die like he did," the man responded. "The guy was only identified by his ashes. It was pretty tough to hear about, even if he was a jerk. The girl ran away though. No one ever saw her again."

Billie and Paige both turned to each other. They had clearly seen Frank back at his house, but it's possible that wasn't him. Paige was still confused, "Wait, so if he died all those months ago, how come no one's bought the house?"

"Poor condition and now everyone's going on about it being haunted. Whenever they say people go on by, his screams of pain are heard and even her screams of pure enjoyment, as well," the Texan replied, cleaning his counter. "I personally never went over to check out these supposed screams, but it keeps the kids off the lawn which is sorta respectful since Frank's ashes were scattered there."

"Thank you for this information," Paige said, pulling Billie by the arm and immediately left the store. "So you know what this means, right?"

"Christy's going around killing people, but it doesn't make sense. I tracked her here," Billie said.

"I know, I know," Paige responded. "Which means that Frank isn't Frank. Christy's gotta be posing as him under a magical disguise." She shook her head. "She was taught too well." The two began to run off to find a secreted place to orb from to make sure Cameron was alright.

**(X)**

Frank sat directly across from Cameron as he gulped down another glass of beer. "You positive you don't want any?"

"One hundred percent sure," Cameron replied, one hand still tightly gripped on his sai dagger under the table with the other resting flat down on the table. "So, Frank, I'm just really confused on why you would take a girl in. Especially a bitch with a fiery temper." His intense gray eyes stared at Frank without blinking, not wanting to miss one second of _him_ about to give in.

Frank's manner changed as he placed the glass of beer down on the table and slid it off, not wincing as it shattered against the floor. "What are you _really_ trying to say?"

"Possibly that you're not really the slob you are. Just maybe that you take me for a bigger idiot than I am," the mercenary responded, prepared to launch his sai dagger across the table if Frank moved wrong. "Care to tell me if I'm hot or cold?"

Frank grinned, revealing very damaged teeth. He shrugged his shoulders when he replied, "Would it really be too easy for me to just say just _how_ hot you're going to be?" A golden glow washed over Frank as a few dancing white lights spiraled around to complete the transformation.

Frank's hairy and pudgy arms were now very sleek and slightly tanned as his round stomach morphed in and was very lean. The stained white shirt was replaced with a strapless gray top which fell as low as her stomach and as high as her cleavage. Falling on her shoulders was her flatly ironed light brown hair as Christy's fierce hazel eyes were steadily watching the mercenary. "So what? You think you're a big bad Phoenix just because you figured me out?"

The two continued to sit across from each other as if they didn't wield powers which could destroy each other. Both were on edge, but they also felt safe. Cameron was unsure of why Christy felt protected, but he did sense comfort within her.

"Do you think you're the best contender in hide-and-go seek? I must applaud you for hiding out here for nearly a year," Cameron complimented. "And not once did you try and kill Billie." He went on as she remained silent. "I take it being _vanquished_ didn't cause any severe memory loss for you."

Christy bounced her eyebrows and replied, "Whatever I did forget you can assume came back to me." She chuckled, "By the way, I think you can be a good boy now and put your little dagger on the table. Call it being on my toes around you, but I knew it was there the moment it touched your little fingers. Either that, or you were inappropriately touching yourself as I was in my standard glamour. I doubt you swing that way."

The blond moved his hand out from under the table and gently placed his sai dagger on the table, but it still managed to clang and send a quick chill through Christy's spine. "You're a little more mouthy than I heard of."

"It's a little easier to joke about things now. Don't discredit me as if I didn't have it rough. Kidnapped as a child, trained to be a little assassin, and my own sister was willing to kill me for women she knew less than a year. I think after all that, I'm entitled to a white wine and a couple of retorts," the firestarter explained, tapping her nails against the table. "Now are you going to give me a heads up when you reach for your little dagger or am I going to figure that out when it's stuck between my eyes?"

"I'm waiting for you to make a move. You're hard to read," Cameron admitted.

"Telepathy is a good shield for the mind. It keeps out the intruders who like to trespass without even giving a courtesy knock. Though it wouldn't be fair for you to compliment me and not express my gratitude," Christy smiled as she played with the mercenary. She scratched her temple and said, "You're pretty hard to read yourself."

The mercenary reached for his sai dagger and held it tightly in his right hand. He held out his left and the twin blade appeared in a pale yellow light. He remained wordless as he stared at Christy.

"I guess I should run screaming and flail my arms now, huh?" Christy commented as she removed her hands from the table and folded her arms against her chest.

"These aren't for you. I'm assuming you didn't just have to scratch your head and that you probably attempted to make me believe you were trying to read me. I didn't get any psychic hit, so that can only assume you're summoning some demonic pals," Cameron explained as he quickly kicked his chair back and felt it slam into someone. He hopped off where he found a demoness bent over and he quickly swung one dagger in a wide arc and cut through her neck, instantly blowing her up.

The mercenary felt two more presences shimmer in and both demons were armed with fireballs. He exploded into a cloud of particles and quickly soared behind them as they were turning around. He rematerialized and stabbed the daggers into their abdomens. He violently twisted as the demons roared in pain before exploding and left Cameron with an impaired vision of Christy through the smoke.

Paige and Billie ran in, unsure if Christy's cover had been blown yet, but as their eyes fought through the smoke, they saw a young woman sitting there. Billie ran past as she spotted Christy and was so relieved to see she wasn't burnt or scarred. "Christy!"

The firestarter rose from her seat with her arms still folded against her chest and she quickly waved at her sister and tuck it back beneath her arms. Fire ran up from her legs and climbed to her head as she taunted her sister to remember the tormenting image of being blown up. The fire completely consumed her as she vanished away in a roaring silhouette.

"She flamed," Billie pointed out.

"Clearly," Cameron replied. "Your sister's taught herself some new tricks. Either that, or she was lying to you even more than you thought." He swung his twin daggers around in his hands and they vanished in a spiraling yellow glow. "There's something different about her, but she still has evil in her so that doesn't change anything."

"Why not?" Billie asked. "You said there was something different about her. Maybe she's slowly coming away from evil and has just been using this place to reflect."

"Billie, you have to face the facts soon. She killed Frank and assuming she comes back, she may have it out for you," Paige warned. "You need to see reason and we need to possibly stock up on some vanquishing potions." She walked over to the young sorceress and said, "If you don't want to be here, that's fine, but you need to understand that Christy may just be too far from salvation."

"No one's killing Christy. She's my sister and you gotta understand that I'm willing to go whatever depths I need to so I can save her," Billie glared at the Whitelighter and Phoenix and added, "Even if I have to do it alone."

"Billie, she's in league with demons. She actually summoned a few to attack me. It didn't do much, but it's the thought that counts," the mercenary quipped. "I can't allow her to just run wild as she grows as a threat. We gotta cut her off and stop her while we can."

"And who's going to do that?" Billie asked.

"I am," Cameron announced as he quickly exploded in a sea of particles and swarmed away to avoid seeing Billie's betrayed face.

Paige's amber eyes widened and she said, "I can't believe this." She walked over to Billie and said, "We gotta beat Cameron to the punch and find Christy first."

The blonde moved over to the chair as her knees buckled in betrayal and she sat down. Her hazel eyes stared at the floor as she realized, "This must've been his plan all along. Get close to me, help me find Christy, all so he can kill her." She looked up at her Whitelighter, "Paige, we have to find Christy. I can't let him get to her."

"As much as it's going to pain me to help her live, you're right. We can't let Cameron get away with this. We need to regroup though and get ourselves together. Let's head back home to get a crystal to scry for Christy and as you scry, I can start whipping up a Phoenix vanquishing potion," Paige explained, offering her hand to orb.

"No, I'm going to stay here. I trust that Christy is going to come back and I wanna be here in case Cameron is hot on her trail. You go and although I'd really rather not vanquish Cameron, if he gets in the way, it's fair game," Billie explained. She saw Paige was concerned and she added, "I'll be fine. This will give me some time to also look around the place and see if she left anything behind."

"Alright. If you find yourself alone with her, call out for me. I don't care if she feels threatened, but I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone with her. She might just play at your desire to be sisters with her and then she'll stab you in the back," the Witchlighter said, her hand back at her side. "I'll try not to be too long." Paige orbed away and Billie stood to her feet to go upstairs.

**(X)**

Cameron cut through the crops in the large field where he sensed Christy. Having been near her for so long, it was easy enough to establish a connection where he could be the hunter whereas Christy would be the hunted. The grains, fruits, and vegetables which were being harvested for so long were instantly dropped to the ground after being sliced off by Cameron's black sai daggers which glistened beautifully under the sun's rays. "I know you're here, Christy!" The mercenary boomed through the fields as he relentlessly tore through more crops.

The blond looked ahead where he saw flames consuming the crops and creating a large field fire. The fire came his way and he stared at the sight until he exploded into a cloud of particles which glided over the flames and buzzed intensely. He searched for the source and he saw Christy with her hands on her temples as she unleashed more fire around her. Only the circle Christy stood in wasn't affected and he figured this to because of her manipulating it to stay away. He swarmed into the circle with his sai dagger already swinging as he rematerialized, but he was too late. Christy flamed away.

The mercenary heard the roaring flames closing in on him and he looked up and burst into particles once again, back to tracking Christy.

**(X)**

Billie continued to look around the room Christy had obviously changed. The bed was pushed against the wall and this made more room for all of Christy's magical assortments; crystals, cauldrons, maps, countless vials of ingredients, a couple of athamaes, jars of blood, violet stones, and more. The sorceress felt as if she knew what all of these ingredients were, possibly because of the power in her which recently surfaced.

She picked up a violet stone and already knew this was the opposite of good's crystal cages and would automatically create a prison to cage someone with dark magic when five were set up. Billie moved over and looked at jars of blood which had names of people and demons labeled on them. Billie figured the normal names were possibly witches who bled dry.

A cauldron exploded its complete potion in a cloud of ashy smoke and Billie turned around to examine it. She moved over and saw the list lying next to it on a notepad and muttered the ingredients, "Demonic viral shells, tablets of troll fetor, three lungs and roasted roots, both from an elder mandrake. Be sure to layer the cauldron with pixie wings and..." the sorceress stopped and pushed the pad away, disgusted. "How could you, Christy?"

"It was easy," the firestarter answered from the doorway, leaning on the threshold. She smirked as her sister rapidly turned around and said, "I kinda had to make do once you _killed_ me. I was also making my best efforts to make sure you wouldn't find me and I tried to destroy as many books in Magic School regarding firestarters as I could, but you just had to help the sisters shut me out from there."

"You were there when we fought the battle?" Billie asked, desperately wanting to hug her sister and beg for forgiveness, but Christy wasn't having it.

"Yeah, I may have seen you fighting a couple of firestarters. I didn't send them, but I did envy that full blown fire thing they do. My witch half doesn't let me do so," Christy explained, walking further into her room. "Mind bottling up that potion for me? It's the least you could do after trying to kill me."

"Christy, you were _evil_! By the looks all of these ingredients, you still are. I was right in defending the sisters and myself from you. You were ready to kill me and you've would've made it your mission to kill them next. After betraying the sisters and seeing you really embrace the nature of a demon, it was the right thing to do. It wasn't about me loving them more than you, but they're good people. You were corrupted," Billie explained, moving closer.

"I know," Christy admitted in a whisper, shocking Billie. "I know. It's just easier to put up a tough front at the idea of your little sister killing you than to thank you. After being blown up, I lost pieces of who I was. I felt that instantly, but since I was so dominated by evil, I lose chunks there. The one thing I didn't lose is all the knowledge I gained; all the ingredients and their uses, the lessons my mentors taught me, that all stuck with me. I can't go leaving out the burning memory of what was supposed to be my death now, can I?"

The firestarter stood directly across from the sister who blew her up a year ago and said, "But my mentors are dead now. Kinda unfortunate, but I'm on my own now. I'm my own woman doing my own thing." She turned her back to Billie and picked up a brown leather-bound notebook from a table. "I also never lost respect. I have demons who are willing to do my bidding for me. I have their specialties in this book and it's really great to have demonic contacts under my control. So if you came here to try to convince me to team up with you and battle demons, it's not happening."

"So what is it going to come down to, Christy? Are you going to be sending those demons after me?" Billie asked. "You're betraying me now. You knew you weren't dead and you forced me to live with the guilt of that. Nightmares and your screams dominated my thoughts and I went through so much to find you. I risked my life for you and now you're just shrugging me off?"

Christy in a sudden aggression threw her notebook into the wall and glared at Billie. She held up her finger, making Billie believe she was about to attack, but it was just to address her. "_You're_ the one who found it better to throw my fire back at me instead of throwing it into a wall. There were so many options and your reflexes acted quicker than you."

"Yeah, I was scared, Christy. After everything seemed to just blow over with Dumain and the Triad dead, you stood there fighting for them," Billie defended.

"They raised me and taught me everything. The circumstances weren't that great, but this is all I know. I don't know how to love, I don't know how to make friends who aren't capable of betraying me, because let me tell you, it might be nice to have clans of demons calling me their Queen, but I know they're willing to betray me if someone stronger comes around and offers them more," Christy explained and turned on her heel to move to the other side of the room. She leaned against the table and folded one leg over the other. "Being here has given me time to think about what my life became because of the Triad and Dumain. It's just left me confused and I don't want to believe in categories of morality anymore. I intend on traveling with my own cause in mind."

"And what would that be?" Billie asked.

"Here's a clue; I haven't attacked you, have I?" Christy asked and Billie nodded. "Precisely, then. I want to be able to help you, but I didn't want to come into your aid just yet. I need time to think of what to make of myself now. Am I just expected to have servants and try to battle it out with other demons to become the Source or do I just make a name of myself and end up in everyone's Book of Shadows? I tried this gig where I helped random Innocents and that wasn't working for me."

"Christy, if we worked together, we could be an unstoppable force against demons. We could get our own place and just live out our lives together," Billie suggested. "You don't really wanna be living here, do you?"

"This house is just a base I set up for myself. Work on some potions, go outside and get a tan, work on more potions and spells and sleep. I just have no aspirations to waste time looking to get married or going out to clubs or anything, Billie. My life will forever be within the magical world and there's nothing anyone can do about that," Christy explained and looked down to the floor. "I'm just a lost soul finding out how to live her life."

"So I did kill you apparently," Billie commented, sliding her hands into her pockets. "You said you lost parts of yourself and that must've been you losing your ability to trust, befriend, and love people. I killed that in you and now you're going to be living some half-life where you're just obsessed with magic."

"Dark magic," another voice responded. Cameron ran into the room and quickly stabbed Christy in the back with both of his sai daggers.

Christy's eyes widened with surprise as she choked, desperately hoping for an overload of air to drive itself into her, but she fell on her knees and hands. She felt the cold blades rip out from her back as more blood began to pour down her dying body. "Billie..." she whispered.

Billie held up her hands and telekinetically launched Cameron outside of the room and he crashed against the wall. Her hazel eyes returned to her sister as she slid to her knees, "Paige! Paige, hurry!" She slid her arms under her older sister's and just hugged her. "You're going to be okay, just hang in there, Christy. You're going to be fine. Paige!"

Orbs quickly carried an armed Paige in as she looked down at Billie hugging Christy. She noticed the blood pouring down Christy's back and asked, "What happened?" She saw the sorceress point at Cameron and Paige saw the mercenary rising up with blood dripping from the daggers. The Witchlighter launched the potion at him and the Phoenix rolled to the side and vanished in a swarm of black particles. The potion exploded against the wall, knocking it down completely and exposed the bathroom with complete visibility.

Paige turned around to find Billie crying harder and was conflicted on what to do. Help protect Billie's heart by saving her sister, or allow the woman who could potentially destroy her family die? She realized the decision may not be up to her, "There's a possibility, Billie, that I can't heal her. She's evil."

"She's human! She's just confused, she admitted to not even wanting to pick a side, please, just _try_!" Billie exclaimed and looked back down at Christy who's eyes were closing.

Paige rushed over to Christy's side and held her palms facing Christy's wounded back. She unleashed her heavenly healing light and willed Christy's wounds to heal. She felt as if power wanted to resist healing Christy which reflected off of Paige's personal trust, but it continued to shine down on the wound. Her flesh began to stretch across her open wound and Paige's hands stopped glowing. Christy was healed. "I did it..." Paige breathed.

Billie hugged her sister and to her surprise, Christy hugged her back. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Must mean she's not completely evil," Paige said. She rose back to stance and rambled on, "Though when I helped heal Cole, Leo needed my help so we can _fully_ heal him, but Christy is mortal... Forget it." She scratched the side of her head in her own confusion and said, "I can't believe Cameron."

Billie and Christy stand, but Billie doesn't let go of her sister's arm. She finally found her and she doesn't want to lose her again. "He used me. He used me just so he can carry out some kill." Her hazel eyes seemed to darken, "He's not going to get away with this."

Christy nodded, "He certainly won't. Now that I know he's after me I'll have vanquishing potions on me all the time." She slid out from Billie's grip and walked over to grab a red silk sheet. She flapped one over one table that held many ingredients and her cauldrons and dropped the sheet on top of it. The sheet fell completely to the floor as if nothing was under it. When Christy lifted the sheet from the floor, nothing was under there.

"Whoa, Houdini," Billie exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

"You know I can't stay with you, Billie. So I just used this little sheet to transport all my stuff to my next location," Christy explained as she repeated the process with everything else in the room. She turned to Paige and a part of her made her feel as if she should carry out her mission, even in the death of her mentors. The other part of her made her say, "Thanks... For, you know."

"No problem. I can't stand to see Billie cry over you," Paige responded. "Having to see it twice would've been too much to deal with. I'm confused now. What's going to become of you, Christy? It's clear you're not hungry for blood anymore, but I still can't put my finger on any of this."

"I'll be in touch," Christy answered as she finished transporting all her belongings to her next destination. "I just can't be around too much where I'll be forced into saving Innocents and doing the whole witch-mortal thing. I'm both witch and firestarter and I don't intend on living outside the magical world. I hold no interest in the things mortals do." She folded her sheet over her arm as she walked over to Billie, "I'll be around... Just don't come looking for me. When you need me, I'll be there."

"But, Christy..."

"No," Christy silenced her. "I'm alive and you've seen it now. Live your life the way you have, except you have extra hours to waste your time on." She smirked. "My one sisterly request would be to go back to school."

"Christy, my life is in the magical world like yours. I'm a sorceress and that means I have to better situate myself to gain all the necessary knowledge," Billie explained. "Why can't we do that together?"

Christy smirked, "I don't want to ruin you. The whole corruption thing isn't cut out for you. Me on the other hand..." flames ran up her body and all around her before completely teleporting her away.

Paige solemnly looked at Billie and asked, "How are you doing?"

"At least she's alive, right? I guess it's the natural course of sisters to move away from each other anyway, but I was just hoping she'd want to make a life with me that we missed out on," Billie said, shrugging her shoulders. "Guess not, huh?"

"Look at the bright side, Billie; she's not mad at you. Even after having to protect yourself against her, she wasn't making you sweat for her forgiveness. By the sounds of it, she'll be watching over you and whenever you need aid, you might not have to scream out for me as big sister Christy might be there for you," Paige replied, moving closer to Billie with a grin.

"Like what? I doubt Christy can really play to an image with a halo beaming above her head," Billie said as she gave the room one final look as she was well aware Paige was about to orb them out.

"Yeah, I agree. Christy's no angel, but she's not the devil either," the Witchlighter commented as she took a hold of Billie's wrist and placed her other hand on her shoulder. Both their features glowed blue before sparkles of white lights helped entomb them, orbing them away.

This house would no longer give off the haunting screams when kids walked by.

**(X)**

Billie sat on the front steps under the night sky with a very light sheet wrapped around her bare shoulders and arms. The night wasn't particularly freezing, but the breeze wasn't as welcoming. She just didn't want to stay inside the house and chose to think with nature helping her seek guidance with the shuffling of leaves, whistling winds, and even the occasional car driving by which created harsh ripples with the wind as it polluted it. As a sorceress, she was one with nature now and listening to the elements was becoming less of a foreign language the more she forced herself to be in tune with it.

The sorceress began to pick up on the signals. Winds whistling gently generally informed her that this was a good time for reflection on not only oneself, but on the actions and motives of each other. Harsh winds was a clear sign of danger and popular in knowledge, even before embracing her inner sorceress. The harsh and violent winds were far from the same. The harsh winds were always unpleasantly rough, but messages of demonic attacks or other deadly dangers would never be sailing on these winds.

The violent winds were different. These winds were guarantees that something was going to be forced upon the people and create a change which would affect the outcome of the many branches of life. Messages of danger always soared on these winds, but some messages were too heavy to stay on them for so long and would spiritually fall off before it could reach the one being warned about the great calamity. These winds weren't blowing tonight.

The winds were gentle and leaves rustled at a different pace and for once tonight, it wasn't the winds speaking to her, but a voice. "Hey."

Billie's hazel eyes widened as she turned to her side and looked up at Cameron who was leaning against the wall. She jumped up from the steps and held her hand up, dropping the sheet off her shoulders, but she didn't care as she prepared to telekinetically bang his head against the wall.

"Don't!" Cameron warned, holding up his hand as he slowly pointed at a family coming out of their house from across the street. "Do you really wanna risk the chance of them seeing someone flying across the street without a jet-pack or wings? Despite how bizarre that would still be?"

"Throwing you around wasn't exactly my idea," Billie replied as she lowered her hand down. "In the case you came to plead why the hell you tried to kill my sister, you got until this family gets in their car before we go at it."

Cameron examined the family and began to do the math, "Two kids, one toddler, and one parent. It's going to take at least a minute for the father to buckle the toddler in, deal with the two kids who seem pretty venomous to each other with the way one is stomping her feet behind the other, they might get into a little spat over which seat they wanna seat in, the father will have to deal with it and that should buy me at least five minutes."

"One of which you've wasted already. So what was it? Did Annabelle send you on a little mission to kill Christy?" Billie questioned as she bent down to retrieve the sheet from the ground. "She's not evil."

"Or so she tells you. I thought you were getting out of the naïve stage and actually maturing," Cameron insulted as he moved past her and sat down on the steps, making himself more comfortable than Billie liked. "By the way, give me a little credit. I came behind her, if I really _wanted_ to kill her, don't you think I would've twisted my blades through her spine so she was beyond recovery?"

"Maybe you missed," the sorceress said. "Probably got nervous."

"I don't miss and there were no threats to be nervous from. Except for that little potion Paige threw," the mercenary whistled. "Now _that_ could've taken me out." He sat silent for a few seconds as he watched the leaves rhythmically brush against each other. "I was testing whether or not Christy was evil, believe it or not. I knew if she wasn't, then Paige would be able to heal her and if she was... Well, then I did my job."

"Your job would've caused a lot of heartache," Billie informed. "That's my sister. Evil or not."

"She wasn't so much your sister then as she is now. I will say though she's not as corrupted from what I can gather, but she's still in league with demons and you need to handle that. In the case she gets too comfortable, I'll be forced to finish the job," Cameron said, choosing not to remind Billie of how she retaliated against her own sister. "Remember when you asked me whether or not I killed members of Good?"

Billie nodded, "What to it?"

"In the possibility Christy is good, this is all tying into what I just said. If she starts making moves in the Underworld and gathering a large posse of demons, I'll be forced to call together a team to take them all out. Let's just say she is good at the moment, for argument's sake," the Phoenix scratched his neck and snapped his fingers afterwards, "The _second_ she goes dark side, she'll have energy balls sailing her way before she can even register what the hell is happening."

The sorceress turned back to see the father making his way into the driver's seat. She spun back to Cameron and said, "This isn't your call. You don't get to decide who lives or dies judging by their morality. You or your mother."

"My mother makes calls to the coven which better interest this world. She had to deal with a nasty son of a bitch a few years ago and his manipulative wife to get in her position and ever since then, she's done what's not only best for the coven, but for the community, and allowing your sister to run free with demons tagging along is _not_ in the best interest of everyone," Cameron growled as his gray eyes pierced Billie and he realized just how hurt she was.

Billie swallowed her pride for a moment and admitted, "I had feelings growing for you. I wasn't expecting it, especially with all the responsibilities I have, but... I can't trust you now. I can't trust whether or not you really tried to kill my sister or if you just found a clever way to cover it up. I can't trust whether or not you're going to lojack me somehow and keep up with my visits to Christy to ambush her. I can't trust _you_." She felt the car pulling out from the driveway across the street and felt the wind wince in pain. She had no means of tending to it, so she walked up the steps and turned the knob of the front door.

"I had feelings for you as well," Cameron replied back, immobilizing her at the door. "Still do, but I guess what I had to do did change everything." He kept his back to her as he watched the car drive away, knowing the risk of Billie potentially attacking him from behind now. If she did, a part of him felt as if he deserved the skin-breaking crash.

Billie scratched her forehead and tried to find the right words and gave in. She lost her hope in him. She opened the door, entered the house, and locked it behind her.

"I guess I deserved that," Cameron said as he looked up to the night sky and exploded in a sea of countless particles which buzzed with the winds, eventually parting from the white house. Emotionally, he was just as broken up as he was physically.

**(X)**

One of the proudest moments with being a parent was watching your children sleep. As a parent, you always wanted to give yourself an opportunity to relax your muscles after having had your children scream and cry for you to hold them, but it was when they relaxed as they slept that you would want to hold them. Paige missed a good portion of her day with her twins and Peter was still out, so she didn't get the chance to play with any of them. Being a witch and Whitelighter robbed you of these opportunities often, but today was a day for friendship. Helping Billie made her loss satisfying.

The Witchlighter watched as Sarah began to move back and forth and the mother in her wanted her to urge her honey brown eyes open to see her mother standing over her. Paige wanted her presence to be known since she couldn't be with them all day and she was terrified they would clearly love their father more because he was always around. Paige had no luck. Sarah stood asleep, but did grant Paige with the memory of watching her eldest daughter snuggle her head into Samantha's arm. The twins looked closer than ever right now.

A weird shape of orbs fell down in front of Peter's bed and Sam and the bed owner appeared to be asleep in Sam's arms as the grandfather was already resting Peter down to his bed. He placed the one year old down and removed his arms from underneath and allowed him to sleep on a comfortable mattress, instead of his safe arms.

"About time you brought my son home," Paige greeted with his back turned to her. He quickly turned around with a grin as she said, "I was ten minutes away from hiring a bounty hunter to find you."

"Like Billie's little mercenary friend?" Sam asked.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled, "No, we're certainly working with a new agency now." He looked confused as she shrugged it off. "Long story. How was your day with him?"

"We had a great time. We visited the carnival and when he grew bored, we orbed around the world. His favorite spot was on these rocks which were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," the Whitelighter answered. "We sat there for maybe twenty minutes with waves washing at our feet and he wasn't even scared. He's safe knowing he could be away from a site in seconds."

"That's my Peter. He really loves the whole orbing-thing. I'm assuming that's what tired him out as well," Paige guessed as she moved over to Peter and put a sheet over his legs, knowing the air would cool down in the middle of the night and he would subconsciously pull it over his body. "Thanks so much for taking him for the day. We work hard to give him a family and in the case something ever happens to me or Henry, he'll be with people he's comfortable with."

"There will be no talk of my daughter or son-in-law dying. You guys are going to lead full lives and watch your three children, maybe more, do the same," Sam claimed in high hopes.

"No more children for us. I'm more than content with the three, thank you very much," Paige replied as she stood in between the three children she spoke of. She folded her arms and chose to speak to her father as a Whitelighter, "Something bad is coming, Sam. If not coming, it's already here. Phoebe felt it and she was tapping into my feelings, so in a sense, I felt it as well. Have you picked up on anything?"

The Whitelighter found this all to be random, but fitting. Especially from his visit at the Pacific Ocean, "Funny you mention that. When we were sitting on the rocks, as Peter took the time to marvel at everything, I cheated him out of Grandpa time and wanted to see if I can hear anything on the waves. They're moving quicker than usual. It's almost as if they're trying to run from these grounds. I think something big is happening as well."

"How big?" Paige asked. "I need someone to put it in words that makes me know what I'm looking out for."

Sam nodded and responded, "Stars falling from the sky with the fear they'll be swallowed, waves retaliating and crashing against shores intimidating the surface into believing it's a higher power, skies changing colors, and our world falling apart. The Elders have got to know about this."

"Then why aren't they saying anything? They know I'm the girl for the case," Paige said. "I've done research on Titans, I got the Book here, resources at Magic School to name a few. Why are they keeping shut about this?"

"They might be scared or in denial. Elders will ignore signs if they discover powerful entities that are surfacing that they don't want to believe in. This is the fear Evil has on us. We can never truly believe a demon or power stays down. We're always on edge and they must've gotten some hit," Sam guessed and stepped closer. "Or worst. They haven't."

"Haven't gotten a hit? What could be so powerful that could prevent them from knowing of its presence?" Paige asked.

"Something truly powerful. Whatever it is, it might not want to be found, but the fact that you and I sensed it confuses me. It's pretty clear the Elders aren't up there playing board games and they are always listening for some disruption somewhere. The kind of disruption that makes waves grow violent and such," the Whitelighter pressed on. "Maybe it was part of destiny that you would be alerted early on, but the signs are coming out now. We'll need answers."

"I'll be on it," Paige stated as she folded her arms. "I'll get Billie to help and we might even get Christy to tell us what's going on in the Underworld grapevine. She might be able to confirm this evil we're after."

Sam didn't seem to question an alliance with Christy. Whatever was coming, they could use whatever resource was being offered. "We'll be in touch, Paige. I'm going to head on up now and see what they know."

"Keep me posted," Paige replied as she watched her father orb off with a nod and smile. The Witchlighter glanced at Peter, before turning to her still sleeping twins. They seemed fine to leave in the room, but she would still set her crystals before joining her sleeping husband.

**End of Chapter. **


	23. She Who Resists White Lights

**A/Note: **I meant to have this chapter up on the nineteenth to celebrate this fic's two year anniversary, but life and work got in the way, sorry. But here it is now. Hopefully if you read this, a courteous review follows. Credit to Reyn (of ShadowTales) for helping me in the creation of this charge as well as plot. The charge was just too interesting for only a couple scenes, she earned a chapter in her honor.

**Chapter 23- She Who Resists White Lights**

**Teaserline: **How can you help someone who doesn't want to help themselves?

**June 14th, 2007.**

"How can you not know who it is?" Paige asked the Elder across from her as the heavenly mist swirled around her ankles, giving her a slight breeze that phased through her dungarees. The chilling winds which occasionally surfaced blew her dark brown hair off of her shoulders as her amber eyes continued to glare down the Elder. "You're telling me with a whole collective of you up here _thinking_ none of you have been able to identify the Evil? Am I expected to do everything?"

"We assure you, Paige, we have been doing everything in our best efforts to come to a conclusion, but it hasn't been simple. This Evil may be great, but it's also currently nameless as far as we're concerned and we cannot do the proper research until we figure out if it is a demon or just an individual power," the African American Elder explained as he folded his hands behind him. "You should greatly be concerned though. If there was ever a reason that you would gain an alert to something this intense first must mean it has something to do with you."

Paige sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose and went on to rub her eyes in exhaustion because of her twins keeping her up, which was unusual for them. Maybe something was bothering them as well. "Alright, well now that I've barked at you and hopefully encouraged you to do your job, you can tell me about this new charge."

Jonas nodded in agreement and explained, "It's been brought to my attention that you are aware of other Witchlighters in existence and we've been keeping track of them all and there is one who desperately needs your help. She's at a great risk to Darklighters who have gained notice of her destined greatness and you need to save her." He noticed her slight discomfort as she rubbed her forehead and asked, "Are you alright, Paige?"

The Witchlighter slid her hand off her forehead and said, "Yeah, I think. I don't know. I just feel as if my insides are trying to come out and reach this Evil, whatever it is. Should I be fighting this or see where it takes me?"

"Fight it. For all you know, you'll be orbing yourself into critical danger. I advise you to take yourself to your charge. This connection should be instant as she is just like you and-"

Paige held up her hand as she heard a jingle surfacing and when it did, it echoed through the halls and she nodded, "Gotta go. Distress call." She still couldn't shake this feeling of wanting to see what her body was trying to lure her too and figured it was just the witch in her trying to identify the demon or power. The Whitelighter in her was forced to dismiss that as she dissolved into orbs and vanished from the serene sanctuary.

**(X)**

Orbs of a different sort fell down onto the scene of a farmhouse and a Darklighter appeared amongst a hay layered ground. His light brown hair was hanging over his face, concealing the tribal markings above his left eye. From top to toe, he was in all black but his mission kept him from caring about the great target to the Sun he was in this attire. He adjusted his matching tie and straightened his suit as he strangely wanted to look presentable to his target.

Two more columns of inky black with purple orbs trailing around appeared behind the first Darklighter and two more of the beings appeared. While one was in a sleeveless gray top with leather patches to match his black pants, the other was in a heavy black trench coat, but they both had metallic black crossbows slung across their backs.

The lead Darklighter said, "Let's see if we can get this done without having to use my special talents."

"You Spirit Killers think you're higher up," the Darklighter in gray snarled. "It's the assassinating archers that collect more kills and we do it in a timely fashion." He walked towards the Spirit Killer and bumped into him with his shoulder as he walked ahead. He shouted back, "Too bad you don't have the power to kill me..."

The other assassin walked alongside the Spirit Killer and explained, "Ignore him, Maven. He's just a bit pissed that he has to possibly spare a kill at the risk of this one having powers to fight back. If we can get his done sooner, we can all return to Sauren with the news and go home."

The conversation ended as a young blonde emerged out from the farmhouse holding a crate. Her light brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she was wearing a flower patterned polo shirt which was buttoned as high as possible. Her striking blue eyes became clearer and clearer the closer she approached the three Darklighters and a smile spread on her face. "Hello, gentlemen. How can I help you?"

"See, there's just one thing we're interested in," Maven replied. "Would you mind if we came inside and spoke to you? It's pretty hot out here and these suits are killing us."

"Sure, we can talk in there. I'm afraid all I can offer is apple juice at the moment, but I promise you it's fresh," Rebecca assured them as she turned around and began to lead them to her one story house. She was too distracted with the heat and her genuine concern for the three men that she didn't think twice to wonder what were the leather straps across their chests were.

Maven turned to the Darklighter in gray as Rebecca had her back turned and nodded to him, signaling him to execute the kill.

The Darklighter snapped his crossbow to in front of himself and unlatched it from its strap. With no need for a quiver and only the use for his mental abilities, he conjured a poisoned arrow into the slot of the crossbow and aimed. It cocked as he pressed his finger against the trigger and Rebecca turned around to find the arrow zooming towards her, dripping its poisonous contents the faster it went.

Her blue eyes widened as she gasped, dropping the crate of milk onto the ground. She was prepared to be struck down, but she only gasped again as she watched the arrow become shrouded in blue and white lights before it spun around and drove itself into the heart of the archer who released it. This surprised her more than she would've expected in recent events of her life to watch a man explode in a threatening fire. That arrow couldn't have done that damage and it couldn't have been _that_ hot.

Paige appeared from behind Rebecca, having reversed the course of the arrow with a whisper of a command. She hoped by whispering, it would eventually return to the point where she could command her power with only her mind. She held up her hand and this time she expressed herself rightfully so as she shouted, "Barn!" She gestured towards the barn where there were no livestock, but Paige hoped she could add insult to injury by dropping him in the excretion of the animals.

The assassin Darklighter was swallowed in orbs which hurt his personal aura as the orbs were too benign to be touching him. He sailed through the air with no control of where he was going and had no sight either as he wasn't fortunate to be able to connect with the orbs to the point where he would be granted vision past them. He suddenly crashed into the wooden fence and landed amongst the splinter and on mud. Or what he hoped was mud.

The Witchlighter smirked as she glared down Maven, "Shouldn't you be orbing off by now?"

"He was right when he suggested I bring men with me," the Spirit Killer seethed. He was furious he wasn't born with the talents to conjure a crossbow, but the powers he was _blessed_ with allowed him to do so much more. He turned to his Darklighter comrade who he spotted on his knee and aiming his crossbow with mud dripping off his shoulders. "For the love of Avo, shoot the arrow!"

"For the love of people who have to hear you whine, shut up!" Paige shouted as she flung her arm out in a wide arc and watched as her opponent telekinetically propelled backwards and crashed against the barn house directly opposite of Rebecca's home. She grinned as she silently thanked Prue for the advice she gave and turned to find the other arrow already breaking the air in between its sender and the target and about to stab her.

Rebecca cringed, but didn't move. She chose not to dive out the way, despite having seen it coming from when the Darklighter was loading it. She was prepared to accept her fate, whatever that may be. But it appeared her power had something else in mind. Orbs quickly spun around her and she vanished from her spot and the arrow phased through her orbs and would crash into the first solid structure it could make contact with. Rebecca reappeared as she looked around, "This can't keep happening."

Paige was surprised at her response, but turned her attention back to the Darklighters. The archer had reloaded his crossbow and the Witchlighter held out her arms the moment it was loaded, "Crossbow!" The crossbow dissolved in orbs and reappeared in the empty space where her hands were and solidified in her possession. She quickly pressed the trigger before he could escape and the arrow fired off as his body resonated of purple and black energy, the arrow pierced his chest and he exploded in a cloud of fire, leaving only wisps of smoke in his former standing.

She still had one more target and no more ammo. Maven rose to his feet and Paige held the crossbow in one hand and raised the other. "Sorry to put a dent in your plans! Darklighter!" She forced him into orbs and he was flying until the orbs released him and she watched as he flipped through the air about to crash into the ground.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca cried to Paige.

Maven vanished in sinister orbs before he could hit the ground and slithered away through the air.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked. "I'm saving the day, or more specifically, your butt." She casually held the crossbow in her possession and felt how hot it was getting under the sun. "So what's your name?"

"You hurt those men! You bullied them!" Rebecca expressed as she took a couple of steps away from Paige. "You had no right."

"No right to save you? Actually, I do. It's part of my whole destiny clause. I save you and possibly one day, I can live in my house where the only thing that rings is my phone," Paige replied, in clear response to all the charges telepathically calling. "So... Name?"

"I'm Rebecca and I'm also not a fan of the way you handled this situation," the brunette responded. "I just don't understand why you had to handle this through means of violence."

"Oh, you're one of those, aren't you?" Paige scratched the back of her head as she resisted the inside urge to go explore the great depths of the Underworld to find the new Evil. "Look, can we possibly just go inside so we can talk about this. I'm positive I can explain myself in means where you'll be kicking demon ass by the end of the day."

"I will welcome you in my home, but I can guarantee you, miss, that I won't be kicking demon _behind_ anytime soon," Rebecca replied as she began to lead the way. "I've been faithful to my causes for so long and I refuse to throw away these beliefs." She walked up the couple of steps into her home, holding the door open for Paige. She didn't even seem phased that people were trying to kill her.

Paige took ahold of the door and entered behind Rebecca, letting the door close behind her. The inside was very simple. No carpets on the floor, several ornaments amongst the wall to show her devotion to the heavenly Father which was only proven further with a marble statue of Mother Mary in the center of the room. "So, you're Catholic? So am I."

"I'm Amish, to be exact, and how is it that you consider yourself a follower of Christ when you personally kill people?" Rebecca asked as she moved further into the house, followed by Paige. "It goes against God's word, the very Commandments he left for those who appreciate the existence he laid out for us." She opened her fridge where she pulled out a pitcher of apple juice and moved to the cupboard to retrieve a glass for Paige.

"You have to understand these were not just people. They pretty much fall along the lines of demons, but in your case, even nastier as they have a poison which is very fatal to you," Paige said. "So if you need to see this in a clearer perspective, take it as these are agents of Satan who are hell bent on killing you and other good people who make a difference in this world. Or _will_ make a difference."

The brunette poured the apple juice into the glass and said, "I must be an agent of Satan as well then. These things that I can do, they were not made for Man. I've been forced to isolate myself from my very own community, my friends, because otherwise, I might just end up disappearing for a few seconds and arriving back to see them scared." She walked over to Paige and handed her the glass. "This isn't the path I was supposed to take."

"First off, the little disappearing trick is the power to orb, it's basically teleporting. And second, this _is_ the path you're supposed to take," Paige informed. "You must believe in fate, but it's the same thing here. You're destiny is to become a Witchlighter just like I am."

"Wait, a Witchlighter? Is that some sort of witch?" Rebecca asked, frightened. "I'm so damned to Hell." She moved over to her sink and turned on the faucet and began her dishes.

"How can you think about dishes when you're concerned you're about going to Hell? I'll tell you now, you're not, as I can tell you there is a luxurious afterlife to look forward to. I have personal reasons to believe in malls and hair salons, so you'll be well taken care of," Paige joked and took a sip of the refreshing apple juice. "Being a Witchlighter allows you to be a guardian angel to people. The profession might not pay at all, but you do feel accomplished."

"I don't need luxuries to feel proud of what I do. I help people in my own way without ever expecting anything back," Rebecca defended, then turned to Paige with the water still pouring on the couple of dishes in her sink. "May I ask you for a favor though?"

"Depends," Paige replied.

"Could you get these powers out of me? I just don't want to go on betraying everything I've been about because I've been cursed all of a sudden. I've longed to meet my friends, go to my prayer circle and attend mass, but I'm too paranoid that I'll _orb_ out," Rebecca expressed, staring at the floor. "I would just like my life back."

"I'll admit I wasn't a hundred percent excited when I was informed of my destiny, but it shapes who we are. I think part of my destiny is also to allow me to help discover myself and I'm sure that's an opportunity you'll be granted as well," Paige explained. "But being a Whitelighter, guardian angel, to people is only half of the job description. Being a witch is the other half. Speaking of, do you know if you have any other powers besides orbing? Can you move things with your mind or anything?"

Rebecca shook her head, "A couple of things happen to me. Two different things apart from orbing, but I'm not really sure how to describe it. One of them is quite beautiful and the other not so much. It always just happens randomly, just like this orbing power. Since I can't control it, does that mean there's a chance you can get rid of this curse before my powers come into me? I just want to be normal again."

"I should really schedule you a coffee date with my sister. She shares the whole normal life thing you're searching for," Paige joked. "As for your powers, I don't think it's in my place to remove them. I've been assigned to you to help you embrace your gifts before you get attacked again, not exchange them." She put the glass down on the counter and said, "Speaking of, why is it that you were just willing to be struck down? Care to share that death wish with me?"

"If it's my time to go, then so be it. I believe in His actions and I'm willing to accept that if there are people to send me to an early afterlife, then that is the way it has to be. I just think He might be punishing me for possessing these dark powers. So if you can get rid of them from me, I'm sure He'll be happy with me again and allow me to live my life. I need to be forgiven," Rebecca answered, turning her back to Paige as she resumed her dishes.

"I can't go letting you die, so don't leave the house. If someone comes in here, hide, run, and don't just stand there," Paige instructed. "I have to go check on my kids as well as get some crystals to keep you safe in here. Be back in a few." She glowed as orbs teleported her back home, leaving her charge unattended.

**(X)**

Paige orbed into the altar room to retrieve her Book of Shadows, but it wasn't on the podium it usually rested on. Henry would have no use for it, Paige told Peter he was not to play with it, even if it was at a reaching level, and the twins, despite being unable to carry it, only cared about eating and sleeping. This left the obvious resident in the house and Paige exited the room, walked down the hall and knocked on Billie's door.

"Come in," the sorceress shouted from inside.

The Charmed One entered and saw her self-conjured tome in front of Billie on the bed who was sitting with her legs crossed. The laptop was open besides Billie along with a couple of books which had ribbons to hold her pages in the case they flipped close. "You're not searching for Christy, are you?"

"Not necessarily. I'm trying to find something that can help me enchant an object that can work two ways. Christy can call on me and I can call on her," Billie answered as she continued to flip through the aged pages. "I'll be able to sleep better at night and focus more on this sorceress business if I know I can contact her."

Paige felt bad for needing the Book, but a charge's life took precedent over a communicating tool which could be created later on, "Do you think you could maybe be able to go to Magic School to find out how to do this? I'm sure there's something in the archives, but I just really need the Book right now."

"Is everything alright? Anything I can help with?" Billie asked.

"No, I can take care of it. There's just a Witchlighter who is basically trying to deny who she is with the person who's she been all her life," Paige answered, walking to the bed to retrieve her tome. "I'm pretty sure I handled all the action stuff already, so that takes the fun right out of it for you."

"Sure does," Billie admitted as she closed the Book of Shadows and picked it up with added strength for the extra weight and handed it over to Paige. "I guess I can wait on the communicating phone-stones anyway. Besides, someone has to stay and watch the kids."

"Where's Henry?" Paige asked. "Today's his day off."

"Yeah, but he got called into some emergency. A parolee acting up or something," the sorceress replied as she picked up a white walkie-talkie and said, "The girls are sound asleep and Peter is with the boys at Piper's."

"Who brought him there?" Paige asked, holding the midnight blue book against her chest.

"I did via teleportation potion, which he doesn't not like as much as orbing," Billie commented, remembering him admitting the very thing. "Too much smoke for his liking."

Paige chuckled, "I bet. Thank you for watching the girls, I gotta get back to this charge before she allows herself to be killed." The Witchlighter wished this was a joke. She turned and left the room, leaving Billie confused on if the charge had a death wish or not, and walked down the hall to get the crystals, but was more pulled into seeing her daughters before she left.

The mother entered the room where the lights were on, but not disturbing the twins as the animals circling a foot above them in their crib were being accompanied by a soothing jingle. She grinned and whispered, "Hey, my angels." Both twins were in matching yellow outfits with the only thing distinguishing them from one another being a beauty mark on Sarah's right earlobe. They both shared the same light brown hair, the amber eyes, and porcelain skin as their mother. Although they were Matthews by name, they were Halliwells at heart.

**(X)**

The Witchlighter walked back into the kitchen after having set four other crystals on the base floor of the house because when setting it down on the floor above earthly grounds, it set up the proper shield which could cover the rest of the floors of the house from the bottom up. This saved her from having to use extra crystals on the second floor of her own house whenever having to do so. The only advantage to using them all in one room was all the protective energy was concentrated on that selective space.

The fifth crystal was in Paige's hand and she walked down to the far corner of the kitchen and passed by the smell of Rebecca's roasting pork and set down the crystal. The crystal shone white as it hummed softly and Paige announced, "Finished. You are now protected from outside forces from coming in."

"I would really prefer it if we didn't use these. If something is supposed to happen to me, this is only preventing it. You told me to believe in my fate, which I already have, but if my fate is to die, why delay it?"

"Look, you might be against alarm systems for your house, but I'm against you dying. So if the Big Guy up there has a problem with this, I'll personally ask that He excuses you and smite me," Paige quipped as she moved over to the kitchen table and sat down, flipping open her Book. "Now, I need you to give me a better description on what your powers are. I might be able to find out what it is here, so let's start with one."

"It's really hard to explain, Paige. I'll sometimes think of someone and soon, I find myself kinda inside their thoughts and when I get back in my own head, I find myself on the floor. Is it like orbing, except worst?" Rebecca asked. "I always feel dizzy every time it happens."

Paige thought on her explanation and remembered something from her days at teaching Magic School. "I think I know what you're talking about. It's a pretty rare power as well." She rapidly flipped through the pages, wishing she had indexed her Book, but it was a thought for later. "Aha!" She exclaimed, slapping her hand down on the page. "Psychic Projection."

"So now I'm psychic?" Rebecca asked. "A psychic Witchlighter. So going to Hell."

"You're not going to Hell, you're not being punished and you're going to have to stop being so stubborn and accept your title as a Witchlighter," Paige practically barked as she looked down at the illustrated page. The title was purple with the _o _in 'Projection' replaced with a drawing of an eye. The entry itself was written in black with borders to match the title color. She read, "With this ability, the user is able to project their senses out of their physical shell, stepping out of their body as just an entity of thought. In this form, the person is immune to physical harm and fatigue, and can move in blinding speed. However, the material form which lies unconscious while the thought entity is active and the person won't be aware of any harm to their body until they return to it. If anything does befall the body, the person will be forever suspended in the dream plane."

Paige looked up at her charge and explained, "This must be why you're so dizzy at times. You leave your body and I'm betting your resistance to it must have some effect to it. If you were open to your power, like I'm suggesting, than there is a better chance that you wouldn't feel so bad when returning to your body."

Rebecca walked over to Paige and asked, "So, does this mean I keep leaving my body? Like flying out of it?"

"Are you familiar with astral projection?" Paige asked. Off Rebecca's shrug, she continued, "Astral projection is basically where your spirit leaves your body and can carry out other things you do, even access your powers if you're strong enough. The whole idea with the power is that you desert your body, and the same thing is happening here with your psychic projecting. You eject yourself out of your body and since you basically travel as a thought, you can read other's thoughts. Your very entity mends with their thoughts."

"That must be why I'm also so distraught when I return. When I return to my body, I also felt as if I know something horrible about people now," Rebecca admitted. "Maybe I'm reading their horrible thoughts, because I never remember hearing good things." She sat down across from Paige, realizing she needed to control these abilities for whatever time she shared with them. She stared at the midnight blue tome and had troubles with this, "That's a book of witchcraft. I feel as if I'm pushing my luck to be sitting next to this _thing_."

"Yeah, the Book does tell some dark tales and is full of demonic fiends, but it's also full of the resolutions on how to stop them," Paige informed and then added, "Well, _most_ of them. This _thing_ has saved my life a number of times. I understand being a witch is real taboo with your lifestyle, but you can't deny who you are. You also can't think that these powers are delivered from Hell. I do good things with my powers, as do other witches, Whitelighters, and so on."

"So witches aren't evil?" Rebecca asked, secretly wanting to feel better about herself.

"There are some bad apples in the cauldron bunch, but most of us are good. I'm even more angelic because of being a Whitelighter as well. You're the same as me. Both destined to be guardian angels to people, but we also have powers which we can use as weapons to defend the people we're assigned to help. By guiding and protecting these charges, we set a chain reaction of helping generations of good people come into their own," Paige explained, slowly sliding the Book of Shadows across the table. "This very Book was made by me, with knowledge from my ancestors, but it's going to be very vital in helping other Witchlighters. It can help you."

Rebecca stared at the Book of Shadows as it grew closer to her. Paige mentioned she had ancestors, so that possibly meant she came from a long line of witches and maybe even Whitelighters. They all passed down stories which were printed onto these aged pages, pages which were probably so delicate they could tear, but these stories would be passed on just as Paige would pass them onto the kids she mentioned earlier. This is when Rebecca stopped and found error in Paige's ways, "Are you going to be raising your children as killers?"

"Excuse me?" a flushed Paige asked. "That was out of line."

Rebecca shook her head and said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend, I was just curious." She glanced up at Paige who was still a bit red in the cheeks, but suddenly a halo of blood red flared over Paige's head and crackled with small sparks which dispersed after a few seconds of appearing. Paige couldn't perceive this, but the blonde could. "It's happening."

"What's happening?" Paige asked, as the red in her cheeks vanished but the halo of a bolder color remained over her head.

"My other power. There's a color I'm seeing over you. I've seen this with some of the townsmen. You're angry with me, understandably," Rebecca informed. She noticed the halo cackled once again as the red shimmered and was replaced with a light blue. "Now you're calm. Or calmer, I should say."

"You must be seeing some sort of aura, but I'm more familiar with auras surrounding an entire body as opposed to just a halo... Oh! This must be your witch power, but your Whitelighter half has shaped it into a combo based off an element of Whitelighters; angels. And angels have halos," Paige ranted, excited, unaware that the light blue halo comprised above her head had now shifted violet. The Witchlighter slid the Book of Shadows back her way and began to flip through the pages. "I know there's some sort of chart in here."

"A chart?" Rebecca asked, tapping her fingers against the hardwood table. "Chart for what?"

Paige continued to flip through the pages, passing illustrations of old foes as well as demons she's never gone up against, charms, and spells and landed on the page she was searching for, "Found it. Aura Perception." She looked up at her charge, "That's your other power. It mentions that the color can change with emotions, and that's what you were witnessing." She pushed the Book over to Rebecca and said, "The chart I was talking about is there."

Rebecca's fingers hesitated before they touched the tome and she closed her eyes as she prepared herself to be struck with lightning for touching a book of witchcraft. Her fingers caressed the enchantingly old pages and nothing happened. She opened her eyes, embarrassed at Paige's puzzled look and she whispered, "Nothing happened to me..." She chuckled softly as she pulled the Book closer and looked down at the page, "There's a color chart for the auras I see. I'm impressed."

"I come from a line of the strongest witches known to the world. Our reputation is a future centuries in the making," Paige informed, standing up to walk over to Rebecca and look over her shoulder. "There's even a color code for magical beings. Did you happen to see the black veins inside of the halo over the guys I fought?" 

"Nope. My power happens at random," Rebecca answered. "Should I have?"

"Well, they're Darklighters and that's what the chart has for them," Paige replied. "Darklighters are basically a Whitelighter's counterpart. They try to reverse the good we do and they're definitely threats. You're fortunate to have witchly powers though. Other Whitelighters don't." She paced the kitchen and added, "Even better, since you're into the whole pacifist lifestyle, your powers aren't offensive, but they do alert you of danger if you embrace them."

"How so?"

"If you embraced your magic earlier, you would've known right off the bat today that those guys weren't people who had any intention on befriending you. You could've read their auras and learned of their intentions with your psychic projecting power," the Witchlighter answered. "Now, let me teach you a couple of ways of how to defend yourself against these guys."

**(X)**

Maven appeared into the Darklighter district of the Underworld in a descending slither of black and purple light. The lights structured together and quickly formed into his full body and he looked around at the Savant Circle. Only two Savants were present and he reported, "Wise Ones, the new Witchlighter has come into the aid of the Witchlighter. Both of them together may be too much for me."

"The Charmed One is definitely a contender," one of the Savants admitted. "But the new one? She can be defeated. She's a virgin to the powers of which have only bloomed from only means of Good responding to our new ally with a being who can fit the natural balance. Her power is premature though, and she is resistant. She can be defeated if you get into her head."

"Another issue. The house is sealed off from Evil," Maven informed as he revealed an open cut on his arm. "I can survive without the healing, but I was repelled by the crystals the Witchlighter must've brought into the house. She vanquished the other two you instructed me to go with."

The other Savant continued to stir the black bubbling essence in his stone cauldron and sighed, "We'll have to inform Avo of why two of his men are dead. We know how to speak with him, so we'll do so." He knew Avo would be curious as to why the fallen orbs appeared into him, so he knew there would be no lying to him. "We can't get you anymore men until we speak with him though. You'll just have to settle with Sauren down there as well as your own personal abilities."

"Very well. Thank you, Wise Ones," the Spirit Killer said before his features glowed as dark as possible and teleported away.

The Savants looked to each other before one scratched his long silver beard and said, "This Spirit Killer is so dependent on others..."

**(X)**

Rebecca continued to tend to her pork as she turned to Paige who was occupying the pot next to her. "Is it really necessary for you to cook a potion as I cook my meal?"

"Yes, I can't be with you all hours of the day, and I want to leave you with a potion since you absolutely refuse to make one yourself," Paige replied, having to resort to the homemade ingredients to create a potion to the best of her abilities. It probably wouldn't cause a Darklighter to blow up, but it might be enough to wound him. "So, tell me a little more about yourself. How's this Amish lifestyle working out for you?"

"It's all I've ever known and I love it, Paige. It's just hard to manage everything right now with these powers. I don't want the Church to get suspicious with me since I haven't invited them over yet to observe my home, but in the chance I orb out, they'll completely ban me from the community. I don't wish to be exiled, but it's necessary for them to come for me to complete the Ordnung," Rebecca answered as she sprinkled some garlic into her bubbling pot.

"What's that?" Paige asked as she mimicked Rebecca with the sprinkling of garlic, hoping that it would be able to replicate the effect of binding all her ingredients together with its pungent smell, forcing them all to combine and mesh into one potion. It was admittedly a long shot.

"The Ordnung is when the Church comes over, like I said already, but they make observe my lifestyle. So no cellphones, those iPods everyone plays with, or any other unnecessary electronics. I'm ready to convert though. Life is lonely now and I want to be able to search for love and marry one day. Having kids would be amazing, but I wouldn't want to press these powers on them," Rebecca said as she moved over to the sink to wash Paige's glass.

"There's nothing wrong with kids having powers. They can be taught to handle them and even taught to handle the responsibility that comes with them," the mother of magical twins defended. "I know my daughters will grow up to help people with their powers and my son just might as well. He might not have the powers to do so, but I'm sure he'll inherit the gene to want to do what's right. He doesn't even have to be a son by blood to do so."

"You've adopted a child?" Rebecca asked with a grin. She found this to be very noble, until another thought came to mind. "But you plan to raise him against his nature? I know it isn't my place to question your children at all, but someone else's?"

Paige knew if her halo was hovering above her head, it would be a fierce red. "He _is_ my child. He's been under my care for almost a year and I love him. My husband loves him, my family loves him. I wouldn't force him to do anything against his will."

"I just honestly have a problem with you producing life and preserving those very lives, but you also go out and kill. It's a bit hypocritical," Rebecca replied, strands of her blonde hair stuck to her forehead from the lack of air conditioning. "No one should be able to take a life and that's my problem with witches. This might be His problem with witches as well. While you're doing good, you're also doing harm to yourself by killing."

"You have no proof of that. You're a witch, a resistant one at that, but you'll come to learn that there are greater sacrifices you'll be forced to make than not being able to walk down the street with an iPod or even watch late night shows," Paige replied, raising her voice. "I began to lose who I was with being told who I am!"

"Just as you are telling me who I'm supposed to be right now!" Rebecca shouted back, going against her soft nature.

Both remained silent. Realization hit the experienced Witchlighter as she took in Rebecca's words. She was right. Paige was basically expecting Rebecca to abandon who she is because of how she was given instruction to make Rebecca embrace her destiny. Although Paige never regretted denying her magical heritage, she couldn't just assume Rebecca wanted the same thing.

Before Paige could apologize, Rebecca stumbled back a couple of steps and collapsed onto her back. The Witchlighter rushed to her side and fell to her knees, but didn't bother healing. She understood that Rebecca's psychic ability took control and all she could do was wait.

**(X)**

Colors rapidly passed by Rebecca as she walked inside a ring of thoughts. Strokes of yellow, lines of crimson, and brushes of lies were the current roads on the ring Rebecca traveled on. She felt small and weightless having transfigured into a mere traveling thought. Her footsteps weren't even steps. As a thought, she would glide through the rings as one voice, but many thoughts, echoed off of the dome she currently resided in. As she moved through the rings, she crashed into other thoughts.

"_She'll be coming to get me soon_."

"_They did warn me_."

"_Death is near._"

Rebecca was scared for this familiar voice, having trusted in this person for years. She had to protect him, but she tried to escape this dome of thoughts but she crashed right into a sinister voice.

"_I'll kill her myself_."

This intense thought knocked Rebecca out of this person's mind and sent her soaring back, more weightless than ever to return to her body.

**(X)**

Rebecca sharply gained conscious as she returned to her body and looked around, seeing Paige trying to calm her down with a quick shushing sound. "Someone's going to die."

"Who?" Paige asked, helping lift Rebecca up from under her arms.

"I don't know, I don't know. I think it could be one of the Fathers at the Church. I recognized the voice, but then I heard another one _pop_ in, I guess would be the right way to say it. The voice was terribly frightening and he wants to kill. We have to go and stop him," Rebecca declared, rushing for the door.

"Lemme grab the potion and I'll orb us over," Paige said as she quickly filled the vial with the potion on the stove and didn't see Rebecca when she turned around. The door closed and Paige sighed, quickly sensing her charge and vanishing in a quick glow of orbs.

Paige reappeared in front of Rebecca and held out her hands, one clutched tightly to the potion, and gestured to halt her. "Wait! There is no need for running, when we can _orb_. This is why we have the power, Rebecca. When Innocents are in need, we can use this ability to instantly appear to them."

"I'm not supposed to be using these powers, Paige. It just feels wrong, now excuse me," Rebecca replied as she made to move around Paige who side-stepped in front of her.

"Embrace your abilities, Rebecca. If not forever, at least for now. Give your powers a chance and let them show you that they are shields for Good, and not weapons made to do Evil," Paige pleaded. "Trust me this one time and see where it gets you."

Rebecca resisted the temptation of rolling her eyes, feeling it to be too childish, but she let out a sigh of relinquish and said, "I surrender. How do I do it?"

"Concentrate on the Father in trouble. Draw up the magic you know is within you and stop resisting it. Relinquish all fear of what will happen if you use these powers and just realize the good that can result from willing yourself to move through miles and miles to save someone you care about..." Paige stopped as she saw Rebecca glowing and smirked. Relieved of having to speak like a teacher to an unwilling student, she vacated the grounds in mirroring orbs.

**(X)**

Rebecca appeared inside the halls of the Church and noticed that there wasn't anyone in the pews, no one coming down the beautifully patterned marble floors, or anyone in sight. The resistant Witchlighter looked around for any sense that she orbed into the right place, but nothing. She turned around and saw a rapid column of orbs collect themselves before her and Paige appeared, startling her. "Whoa."

"I've gotten that once or twice," Paige responded as she placed the potion in her pocket and looked around. "So where's the good Father?"

"I don't know, no one was here when I came. I was focusing on Father Gerald, I swear!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"I trust you. You trusted me, I trust you. I think magic was taking into consideration that you're new at this orbing thing and you would've gotten highly discouraged if you exposed magic on your first successfully intended orb," Paige joked and looked around, but saw who she figured to be Father Gerald at the end of the hall staring at them. She pointed to Rebecca, "Is that Father Gerald?"

Rebecca flipped around and grinned, "You're okay! Father, we gotta get you out of here."

"I'm not leaving these grounds, Rebecca. You on the other hand..." Father Gerald's eyes flashed away from their innocent hazel into a threatening red glare with black pupils. "Are." He held up his hand and he telekinetically flipped open the doors and waved two of his fingers, launching Rebecca out of the Holy house and onto the steps where she rolled down to the ground.

"Rebecca!" The Whitelighter and gentle person in her called out, but the furious witch in her was stronger at that moment and turned around to Father Gerald. "Who and what are you? Possessor demon?"

Father Gerald chuckled and grinned, "More like someone who has endured a bunch of good crap to successfully infiltrate this pure line of do-gooders. It'll be a great experience to corrupt them all."

"You're a Darklighter," Paige stated.

"Bingo is my name-o. Not really, but you get the gist," the Darklighter replied and added, "And you're just some trash to be picked up on the steps of _my_ home." With a forceful gesture, he launched Paige outside to join Rebecca.

Paige's elbows hurt the more she rolled down the steps and her forehead smashed into one of the last steps, leaving her sprawled on the ground. She looked up and notice a stain of her blood on the step as well as trickle of it fall down her face. The impostor Reverend appeared at the doors in his inky black and purple orbs and grinned, "Knock before entering. Don't think I won't be prepared next time in case you filthy bitches step in here." He let out a fake chuckle, "I'll smite you if you do so."

Rebecca stood to her feet, wobbly, "But Father Gerald..."

"It's Sauren, dear," he responded before telekinetically slamming the doors closed on them.

Paige wiped the blood from her forehead with her forearm and said, "Trash talking bad guys get old." She looked around the outside and noticed that no one seemed to be traveling and wondered why. Then lightning pierced the sky above them and the rain began to softly fall on them. "This weather is insult to injury," she said through pursed lips.

"What do we do?" A frantic, and growing wet, Rebecca asked. "Do we just storm back in there and try to talk him into being a better person or something?"

"This case isn't that simple. There isn't a good bone in that guy's twisted body," Paige insulted. "I'm assuming that if you've been working with him for this long, he must've had plans for you. He would know you're a Witchlighter like me since he's a Darklighter and would just sense it. I should say, he's an exceptionally strong Darklighter. I'm assuming he's worked with Savants."

"Savants? Like wise people?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, but in the supernatural world, these Savants are an old race of Darklighters. They're really wise and have gone beyond the standard depths an ordinary Darklighter can. This one has obviously been introduced to stronger abilities and I'm going to assume so because he's managed to infiltrate a Holy line and he must've needed some extra firepower to do so," Paige figured, mainly speaking to herself now. "Must've been a Spirit Killer at one point so he can get into the heads of people."

"How come I never sensed anything Evil about him?"

"_Because you refused to accept your powers!" _A frustrated Paige wanted to snap, but held her tongue. "I'm assuming it's because he either cloaked himself from you realizing it, but he must know that I'm working alongside of you and I'm clearly more of an expert here – come to think of it, he might have been the one who sent the Darklighters after you this morning."

Both Witchlighters stared at each other as Paige came to this conclusion. "I'm not too worried about these other Darklighters having run through them earlier, but this one concerns me." She wiped the blood from her forehead again as she felt it running down her face again with the rain. "Self-healing would be the best power."

"Can't I heal you?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, you could, but healing is tricky. The trigger is love and let's face it, you barely like me and my ways, let alone love me, and you can't casually use it until you've activated it once by love," Paige explained. "Love for a family member, love for a charge, and so on." She noticed Rebecca looked rather offended by her remark and added, "Look, I don't take offense to it and I apologize if I offended you, but it took me years before I healed and I ended up marrying the guy. It's pretty difficult stuff."

"Fine," Rebecca resigned, deep down offended. "What's the next move? I'm not going to have to battle him am I? This man has guided me a majority of my life and-"

"Has been secretly manipulating you into eventually doing his bidding. Believe me, he might've been very Mr. Rogers to your face, but that guy was eventually going to turn your powers into weapons against other Whitelighters. He's doing a pretty damn good job with the position he's in right now as well," Paige admitted, silently applauding the efforts of Darklighters.

This concerned Paige. Who knew how many people Father Gerald – Sauren - has misguided into misgivings and terrible deeds with just a subtle thought that they wouldn't question since a man of the cloth was the one that suggested it. It gave her as many chills as the fiercely cold rain pelting her bare skin.

"Let's get out the rain," Paige said, taking ahold of Rebecca's arm and ushering her under a closed fruit stand at the end of the corner. "I have one potion with me, but there's no guarantee that I'll be able to vanquish him with it since I've been using very homey ingredients. It might be enough to wound him but neither of us really have any explosive powers. Recruiting my eldest sister for this task would probably only get me blown up myself..." This earned a look of fear in Rebecca's face and Page added, "Yeah, Piper can be a people person on most afternoons, but her and demons turns him into a bit of a _witch_."

"I don't see why we have to act on violence. Whitelighters can fight with words, I'd assume. If Darklighters can corrupt with words, surely we can fight back in the same manner," Rebecca said.

"It just doesn't always work like that, Rebecca, and this is what you're failing to realize. You're a Witchlighter, not just a Whitelighter. You have to look at both sides of the coins and let's consider _heads_ to be the more insightful side and that would be the Whitelighter part in us. But when you flip that coin and it lands on tails, there's no turning back. Talking just doesn't make the cut and you have to just fight with your fist, powers, scratch and pull hair," Paige explained and noticed the rain was getting heavier and a wind had been annoyingly whipping her hair around for a while now. The more she paid attention to the weather, the more the witch inside her wanted to be released to travel for a few moments.

"I would just rather make an attempt at speaking to him then fighting," Rebecca said. "Maybe he can be converted."

"You can't reason with Evil," Paige commented. "It doesn't always lead to great things. Generally, your death follows."

"If I can die successful, it'll all be worth it," the young Witchlighter retorted. "I know you must think I'm just insanely stubborn, but I actually just find myself extremely open-minded."

"Open-minded?!" Paige shouted back. "That's not the word I would use for you. Yes, Evil can _sometimes _be turned but if you really have been at this long enough to notice who can be saved and who can't. This guy must've situated himself in this post for years to get where he's at now. If he was going to be influenced by the Lord, the chance would've happened already."

"You're wrong," Rebecca defied, running past Paige into the freezing rain and heading up the stone steps to the Church.

Paige wanted to orb her back to where she previously stood, but she couldn't be too careful with any eyes looking out their windows after she shouted at her charge. Instead, she chased after Rebecca and yelled, "Don't go in there!"

It was too late. The doors closed behind Rebecca and Paige quickly entered to find Rebecca dissolving in purple and black orbs. The Witchlighter was dripping all over the floor and the candles in the blessing altars vanished as a supernatural wind omen wiped them out. She shuddered from the cold and continued to look around for Rebecca. The same purple lights caught the corner of her left amber-colored eye and she noticed Rebecca was now in the arms of Sauren, previously named Father Gerald, on the balcony.

Paige dissolved in orbs and reappeared a few feet in front of them. She noticed her charge was whimpering at the athamae held to her neck and switched to see Sauren grinning. "Let her go."

"Or what? You would dare to fight in a Church?" Sauren questioned. "I thought you were Catholic."

"Her life comes before my manners and beliefs," Paige firmly replied, wishing she had her ability to summon Rebecca without breathing a word. If she verbalized a command, Sauren might be quicker to pierce her neck and a dead Rebecca would appear on the floor before Paige.

The Whitelighter in Paige braced herself as the witch inside her was screaming for attention. The witch wanted to warn Paige and was playing sirens with her ability to recognize danger and the jingle was louder than ever. Paige shook the inside of both her ears with her fingers and whispered, "Not now, not now... I'm busy if you haven't noticed!"

"What's wrong, Paige? Other charges in need? Any of my brethren, by any chance?" Sauren asked.

"Go to Hell," Paige fiercely said.

Maven orbed beside Paige and grinned at Sauren, who nodded.

"Paige, behind you!" Rebecca warned.

Paige turned around and saw that Maven was about to utter a thought into her head, but Paige's witch reflexes were quicker and she withdrew the potion from her pocket and launched it at his chest. Maven exploded in bright orange flames with purple fireworks following. His orbs vanished and Paige learned from her time as a Darklighter that these orbs were making their way to her arch-opponent, Avo.

She flipped back to Rebecca and Sauren and said, "Just let her go. You can have me."

"I'm good, but I don't even think I'm that good to defeat you. I won't be that cocky," the Darklighter admitted. "But her..." Sauren licked Rebecca's neck, earning a well deserved disgusted shudder from Rebecca.

"You sick bastard!" Paige exclaimed, about to make her best efforts to summon the athamae as quickly as she ever had in her life before the witch in her let out a monstrous roar, demanding her to abandon her body. Paige swayed where she stood before falling to the floor, leaving her body.

**(X)**

Paige's astral self appeared in a crimson glow into the Underworld, completely dry as opposed to her wet body which lay on the Church floor. The Underworld lair was like no other; it looked more like a temple and she noticed that at the far end of the cave was Rose reading out of a black cloth-covered book, chanting. But this Rose was different and the obvious sign of that was Rose's eternal sapphire eyes. The chanting was very disturbing as well; it sounded as if they were words of hate and death and it chilled Paige's astral self to hear them echo through the plated halls.

Dark orbs flew over Paige's head and she watched as they glided into Avo who seemed ashamed. He ignored mentioning the fallen Darklighter and asked Rose, "How's the spell coming along?"

Rose stopped chanting and her regular speaking voice was darker as well, "My army shall rise in a matter of minutes."

"Good. I'll call upon a meeting with my district Darklighters and inform them that the time to summon the clans to the surface grounds is near," Avo stated, diminishing into a slither of orbs and vanishing.

"Rose?" Paige asked.

Rose was about to continue chanting but held off. She grinned at the sight of Paige and said, "Ah, my old Whitelighter. It's been a while, Paige." She blinked in a haunting manner and added, "Even if it is just your astral form."

"What happened to you? What are you doing?"

"Familiar with Hell on earth? I'm the Bringer of this and I have no problem with sharing this plan to you. There is nothing you can do to eject the profound powers of Valen out of me. I'm tied to this power. It's forged into my soul and cemented there. Demons of the Old Age shall rise from dust into embers and into furious flames seeking innocent blood on their tongues. You best go warn your bosses that a storm is coming," Rose shared, grinning. She resumed chanting and didn't bother banishing Paige from the grounds. She would allow her to witness this event.

The chanting continued, the ground began to shake, and heads began to rise from the grounds...

But Rebecca screamed and this scream reached Paige's ears. She forced her astral self to return to her body and would deal with Rose another time.

**(X)**

Paige's body flared red and Sauren quickly stepped back and muttered, "I knew it was too good to be true. At least I got one – she talked too much. Not much of a fighter."

Paige waved her arm and telekinetically sent Sauren flipping backwards. He dissolved into malevolent orbs before he could collide with the old piano behind, Paige used this opportunity to test an idea, "Orbs!"

The purple and black orbs were suddenly swallowed in blue and white orbs and it looked as if the sinister orbs tried to struggle out of this benign cage. The orbs compressed tightly together and soon exploded, destroying Sauren.

The Witchlighter rushed to her feet and saw Rebecca lying on the floor. She dropped to her knees and without hesitating, she hovered her healing hands over her charge, a possible friend if she wasn't so stubborn, and she unleashed what she knew to be a warm healing glow and bathed Rebecca's bloody neck in it. The golden glow seemed to flicker and quickly diminished. "No..." She tried again, flicking her hands open and closed hoping that the golden glow would return and heal Rebecca. But the blood never returned into her neck and the wound never closed up.

"She didn't deserve this... I failed..." Paige cried, and she knew these were her sincere thoughts and not planted into her head by some other Spirit Killer Darklighter. She cradled Rebecca's neck and knew she died not putting up a fight. That's how she would've wanted it, but this wasn't fair. A tear fell on Rebecca's forehead and Paige looked up to the Church ceiling – it was an imagery of heaven. But Paige was going to take Rebecca to a place very similar to that final resting place.

Holding onto her tightly, Paige orbed upwards with her fallen passenger.

**(X)**

Amidst swirling white mist, where Paige first received Rebecca's warning call, orbs appeared in the Heavens and Paige was seen by a collective of Whitelighters to be holding a young woman. Paige sat there for minutes before the murmured clicking from Whitelighters stopped and one appeared beside Sandra and Jonas.

"Paige..." Sandra breathed.

Paige didn't look up at any of the Elders, but continued to cast her gaze down at Rebecca's lifeless form. "She didn't deserve to die. I failed her, I was rushing her to use her powers, trying to force her and... It wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't my place to nag her to accept abilities she didn't want." She finally looked up at Jonas and Sandra with a fierce glare, "But it's not only my fault. You all play a part in it. We can't keep forcing burdens and responsibilities on people and saying it's supposed to be done simply because it's _destiny_."

"What would you have us do, Paige, if not try to make a difference?" Sandra asked. "We never promise easy charges, in fact, we expect more from you because you're the Witchlighter."

Paige wanted to throw herself at Sandra, the Elder she always respected, but she couldn't get herself to release physical contact on Rebecca. She wouldn't allow her to become lost in the swirling mist scattered on the freezing marble floor. "She was a Witchlighter, too. Would you have her try to help others embrace destinies when she wasn't willing to do so herself?"

"Paige, we had to take a risk. As Whitelighters, we're forced to situate ourselves into the lives of future guides in order to gain their trust, but there are times where we have to work past the time to create a proper bond because Evil has already interfered. Rebecca certainly believed in the idea of a Holy good – a paragon of peace. This was a restraint to our cause, a quite unfortunate one," Sandra solemnly explained. "This isn't your fault. If it betters your emotions to find a source of blame during these times, blame Evil."

"Blame Evil?" Paige spat. "I've blamed Evil _enough_ over the past years. Evil separated me from many things, but you Elders aren't paragons of Good either! It's fear of your kind that I was separated from my family before I even got to know them. It's because of you all that I never felt fully included with the Halliwells. It's because of you all that I have _doubts_ and you continue to expect me to praise your kind as you ignore someone's right to freewill?!"

"Are you trying to accuse us of not doing any good for all these years, Paige?" Jonas asked. "I assure you that-" The Elder stopped himself as a powerful trill which sounded like hundreds of rapidly plucked harps reverberated off the walls. Everyone looked around, seemingly aware of what was going on, all but Paige.

With a quick wave of her hand, Sandra orbed Rebecca's body out of Paige's grasp and caused the Witchlighter to stare in confusion in the spot where Rebecca previously laid. She quickly explained as Jonas and the other Whitelighters rushed off, "Paige, Rebecca is in a better place now. Trust me, but there is a threat up here. Come."

Finding the strength in her legs, Paige picked herself up and followed after Sandra in a hurry. They charged through the heavenly mist, forcing a path as it didn't put up a fight, until they reached a hall that was fogging in heavy mist. A golden door swung open as a figure in gold robes charged in there.

Jonas stopped at the door and his voice demanded an answer, "What are you doing? That book isn't to be touched!"

Paige and Sandra reached the door, but all the Whitelighters were crowding it. The Elder gripped Paige's wrist and orbed the two of them outside the room, but in front of the crowd. They both spotted Reynold holding a violet covered book with a gold plate on it. With a deceiving shrug, Reynold orbed away before he could be stopped.

Paige looked at the spot where Reynold previously stood and looked around, spotting cases running down a hall and she asked, "What did he just take? What is this place?"

"This is the Sanctum of Sites and Solutions. In this small room, answers to great problems were preserved for when a threat has increased to dangerous levels," Sandra began to explain, looking even more solemn than when speaking of Rebecca. "Apart from Elders, the only people who can gain access are Messengers in case Elders are ever under battle and we need to call for help. In this room, we hold powers that we can call on, but it appears we've been betrayed. Reynold has robbed from us and the Heavens detected he was going to, which is why the sirens activated."

"What? What did he take?" Paige asked.

"Instructions on how to reach the Archangelic Sword. Protecting this sword are obstacles that the First Elders created long before any of us have even been here," Jonas explained, still staring into the small room.

"The Archangelic Sword? Why would Reynold want that?" Paige asked, clearly aware she wasn't getting the full story.

"It appears he serves a new master. The Sword of the Archangel Michael is the only known way to destroy a powerful Evil, one which we Elders have kept protected for aeons in anticipation of Evils this great, but we've fallen under the impression it would mean certain defeat for this one being," Sandra explained.

"You're talking about Rose, aren't you? She seems to be extremely powerful now and is summoning some army. I astral projected to her, but not on purpose," Paige explained, feeling weaker at the thought of Rebecca.

"We aren't talking about Rose, Paige. Rose may pose a threat and armies can be taken care of, but that book was protected in the Sanctum because once this man rose to enough power, his opposite would be destined to take him out with this weapon," Sandra explained. "You see, Paige, we all have our enemies. You and your sisters had a destiny to Protect the Innocent for the time you did, Rebecca's counterpart was Sauren, it appears Rose is Billie's, but yours, as you may have figured, is Avo."

"So are you trying to say that the only chance I have at defeating Avo is the Sword of Michael?" Paige asked.

"Correct," Jonas answered, finally turning to see Paige.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before? Get rid of him before he had the chance to do more Evil? Since we do we operate with patience for a vanquish?" Paige asked. "You need to learn how the hell to separate a virtue from a vanquish!"

"We have to respect the balance as always. Avo is an essential to Evil and by messing with the scale, we risk corruption to Good. If Good is weighing too heavy, we have to shed ourselves of some of that weight and we can't risk corruption," Sandra defended. "You should be on alert now, Paige. If Reynold has chosen to steal the instructions to the Sword, it must mean that Avo is ready to come out of hiding and may be coming for you."

"To kill me," Paige commented. She stared Sandra in the eyes and bit her bottom lip before saying, "Thanks for not bringing the tool of destruction to my attention earlier. In the case I die, good luck killing the bastard yourself. I'm done with your kind either way." With a disgusted look on her face, the Witchlighter looked around at the Heavens and wondered why it didn't represent everything it was supposed to; peace, recognizing Good apart from Evil, right from wrong. The heart of the Heavens was corrupted, everything the Elders feared. Paige dismissed herself in rapid orbs.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **Hopefully the chapter was a good one. This is where the start of the final battle began with Paige detaching herself from Elders as well as learning of her destined match with Avo. The final battles will be Paige against Avo as Billie will hopefully gather a party to take down Rose/Valen and the rising demonic army. If you wanna see some of that, kindly drop a review here on the site as we prepare to close this two-year running long series.


	24. Forbidding Heaven

**Chapter 24- Forbidding Heaven **

**Teaserline:** Shaky hours are eternally present in blessed times...

_**June 20th, 2007**_

All sessions at Magic School were on halt for the day, followed up with a delay in exams for the week, to the relief of all the students and even of the professors who hadn't completed making up their final exams. With the Great Hall being occupied for the past few days, students were restricted from during their quiet study there and didn't have access to books they might've needed. Phoebe Halliwell was getting married and while all the students wanted to attend the wedding of a Charmed One, the bride-to-be wanted a simple and safe wedding with an audience of family and friends only. The barriers the Charmed Ones provided the school would only be strengthened with their very presences inside the grand building.

Phoebe's day had finally arrived and Paige was steering her into the Great Hall with one arm as she clasped her other hand over her half-sister's eyes. "And we're here. Prepare to be amazed."

"I hope so," Phoebe muttered anxiously through gritted teeth. Paige's hand was removed from her eyesight and Phoebe stared in awe at the Great Hall. Replacing all the books in one particular bookcase were silver trinkets and in between each were pale yellow and white candles, unlit. The middle Charmed One was glad that Piper talked Paige out of the silver and gold streamers around the windows as she was more than content with the polished frames as it gave her wedding an antique look. In front of the grand windows were two rows of silver candlesticks, four feet each, each topped with more pale yellow waxed candles.

Running on both sides of the aisle were two rows of four chairs each. Down the aisle was a long white carpet that started at the main entrance of the Hall and ran up to the altar where a white marble podium in the shape of an angel stood.

"It's beautiful," Phoebe whispered, too impressed to hug her baby half-sister. She walked further in and pressed her hands to her mouth where she felt the engagement ring that truly connected her with Coop as he once wore it to help others find love. She kissed it quickly so Paige couldn't see, but this wasn't anything rare for Phoebe as she often kissed the ring when she couldn't be with Coop, later finding out from her beau that he felt it each time.

"Is that all you got?" The eldest sister asked as she entered behind Phoebe and Paige. "Two hours it took to put all those silver ornaments up." Phoebe flipped around to see Piper who was grinning. "Don't get me started on how hard it was to find that very sentimental collection in the attic."

"Very lucky not to get those things blown up in eight years of demon attacks, lady," Paige quipped.

"It was such a little girl obsession I had. What made you even consider even scavenging for those things?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, not that you really need to be told, but you started that collection when Grams started telling you stories about Mom and after she first started giving you some of Mom's old earrings, you grew obsessed with every single thing of silver in the house mistaking it for something of Mom's," Piper explained, not dropping her smile for a second. "Once you started losing track of what was what, you gave up on the collection until Grams died."

Phoebe grinned, but shyly stared down at the floor as she fiddled her fingers together.

"Prue thought you were just trying to pawn it all off, but I recognized it as you subconsciously collecting valuables. I like to think that you just wanted to wear all our jewelry, but you always did it the most when you lost loved ones," Piper explained, her smile faded at the issue. "You must've robbed Prue's room after we lost her."

"Hey, I left a couple of things around," Phoebe replied with a mischievous grin. "At least I think I did."

"Yeah, Prue's necklace that we got her for her nineteenth birthday and _one_ of two earrings that I found under her night stand," Piper explained and wrapped one arm around Phoebe's shoulders. "I just thought these little silver trinkets would add a bit to your day as it could connect you with the people you love but can't be here."

"I bet you weren't counting on this conversation," Paige joked, silently knowing that Piper's big explainer was to help Phoebe emotionally recover from seeing all these past treasures.

Piper chuckled, "Definitely not."

"Paige! There you are," a new voice said. The Charmed Ones instantly recognized the voice, but turned around to greet Billie with a confused look. "Okay, I've been doing some research in the class with all those textbooks on ancient demons-"

"The Arcane and Ancient Room?" Paige guessed, completely unfazed on how the sisterly mood was interrupted.

"Yeah, I think that's the one. Well, I've been trying to I.D the demon that may have been in Rose and judging on star charts and extreme shift in weather, I narrowed it down to a couple of demons. One demon named Rohr appears before heavy rain and under a lightning-clad sky and I figured that since the lightning and thunder only started this week and Paige has been sensing another power for several weeks, I ruled him out," Billie explained with too much excitement for identifying a Great Evil.

"Okay, Billie, get to it," an impatient Piper stepped in. "Who's the demon and can it wait until after Phoebe says her 'I Do's'?"

"It's actually more of an ancient entity than a demon. This tremendous power recognized as Valen hasn't been seen in centuries and was buried in the Underworld after her demonic army turned on her. They pretty much summoned all their power to banish Valen, killing most and drying the survivors of their powers," Billie explained. "Valen was inhabiting some demon that disowned its previous name and went by Valen, often confusing some of whether she was a demon herself or just some power. Valen's flaw is that she can create many servants and she kept creating more and more and more and more..." Billie stopped herself at Piper's second frustrated look. "_So_ now that Valen is back, there's no doubt we have a damn strong demonically powered opponent on our hands to deal with. As more days pass, the stronger she'll get."

"It doesn't sound as if she learned from her mistakes though," Paige said, recalling seeing Rose in the Underworld summoning more demons. "Is there any note on how to vanquish her? Or at least how the other demons banished her the first time?"

"All it said was that the demons created this Living Grave to contain her. That lead to even more research but the gist is that this grave was meant to banish Valen since they weren't sure how to vanquish her and they couldn't risk it. They either made a move that was certain or not, because if they failed, Valen would kill them all in one swipe," Billie said. "So we can either replicate this Living Grave and banish her or try to find out one of the means that could've vanquished her."

"Which would be what?" Phoebe asked.

Billie shrugged, "There's no text on that. I was just about to go bouncing between some of the more popular Underworld lairs and find out if anyone knows and if they're willing to part with their tongues if they don't tell me. The thing is, if the lairs don't check out, I might have to go a little deeper in and you might not be able to sense me in the case I get ambushed down there."

"Billie, this can wait until tomorrow," Paige said.

"But-"

"No, Billie. _Tomorrow_ or you'll have a bigger threat to deal with," Piper said, turning to Phoebe. "I doubt an ancient demon can match up against a Charmed One who has been waiting for the day to marry her Mr. Right since Cinderella hit movie theaters."

Phoebe grinned and said, "Play it safe today, Billie. Tomorrow you can go hunting. Do more research if you have to and just cross-reference what time period Valen dominated, was born in, what got her servants so pissed off, and so on. When you're done with that homework, Paige can grade it and get back to you tomorrow."

"Fine," Billie replied, defeated. She slid her hands into the pockets of her black capri-pants and walked back out the door she came from.

"We outnumbered her a little too harshly," Paige said. "Power of Three-against-One."

"She's had this info for a while now, Paige. I agree, it sucks she finally found it today, but let's make an attempt at a wedding that doesn't have any invisible bridesmaids, demonic grooms, groom-napping, or the-world-might-end-tomorrow-so-let's-get-married-today agreements," Piper said, taking a deep breath after.

"Glad to get that out your system?" Paige asked, patting the eldest sister on her shoulder.

Piper brushed the hair away from her face and said, "Actually, yes. Now go get to Billie before she goes pissing off every demon of the Underworld for answers, God knows that girl isn't actually going to sit still."

Paige sighed and chased off after Billie and as soon as she turned a corner, she caught sight of the young sorceress entering a classroom. The Witchlighter recognized that this was the same classroom Paige referenced to before and doubted that Billie was actually going to study up on Phoebe's questions, even if she didn't have the answers.

She entered and saw Billie was inspecting her potions pouch and said, "Look, I don't think that you're actually about to be a good girl and do _homework_, but I do have a suggestion."

"And what would that be?" Billie asked, not looking at Paige directly.

"Contact Christy," Paige said, apparently earning Billie's privileged look. "She was trained by the Triad and if there's one good thing they did for her, it's they taught her about Evil. She might be a know-it-all whereas these books might not be as certified to answers these questions as Christy might be."

"You really trust me to go and find Christy?"

"I know she won't hurt you and she's likely to torch some demons if you get in trouble," Paige said. "I would try a sister-to-sister spell. If that doesn't work-"

"It doesn't," Billie interrupted. "I tried it the second we got home from saving her. I think the only way I can get her to appear to me is if I'm in trouble." Billie fished into the pouch and withdrew a potion. "The deeper lairs of the Underworld offer both that and answers to Valen." She quickly dropped the potion to the floor as she saw realization wash over Paige's face. The standard cloud of smoke consumed Billie as if understanding her anticipation to flee the scene.

Paige stared at the spot Billie previously stood and sighed, even more defeated than Billie was moments back.

**(X)**

Billie's cloud of smoke transported her into the Underworld, but not as deep as she had been hoping for. The smokey cloud collided with the entrance of the next lair and an orange light appeared and bounced Billie out of the cloud, rolling across the ground. The orange light retreated back into the archway.

The sorceress sat up, wiping her arms clean of the dirt to the best of her ability, and picked herself up. She held her fingers wide open as she approached the clear opening of the lair and couldn't sense any blockage with her practiced sorceress abilities.

As she was about to pass, the air shimmered before her and a man in a crimson leather vest with black horns protruding from his forehead appeared with his hands folded before him, "State your business and rank."

"Rank?" Billie asked.

The demon inspected her and said, "You don't wear the image of a demon. Not even lower-level filth." He sniffed her scent and his contorted face was disgusted. "You're a witch!"

"And you should get those things shaved," Billie said, pointing at the horns with one hand as she reached for a potion with her other. She felt around for a stiff cork so she could identify it as an explosive without having to look.

"She's with me," Christy's voice announced out loud.

Billie flipped around and saw Christy grin at her as she walked closer. "Christy! I was looking for you."

"When aren't you?" Christy reasonably asked as she ushered Billie past the demon and they descended the stone steps into the next lair together. "You really shouldn't be hanging around here. This neck of the Underworld makes alleys at midnight laughable."

The Jenkins sisters passed dozens of torches, all connected with cobwebs, and occasionally women hanging from chains, dead.

"What happened to them?" Billie gravely asked.

"Other witches who were stup-, who weren't _smart_ enough to realize that one little explosive potion doesn't stand a breath of a chance against those pit-bull demons," Christy explained. "What business do you have mistaking this for a playground?"

"I need to find information on this demonic power Valen. The power's possessed this girl Rose and they're already summoning an army to battle, most likely, Paige and I," Billie informed, looking down the lair to prevent anymore surprises. "Paige suggested that you might know something that the books at Magic School don't."

"I owe the Whitelighter one, so I'll cash her favor in to express my gratitude. I do know things about Valen that wouldn't reach good ears, but I'll bend the rule for family," Christy said as they approached a forked path. She closed her eyes and moments later, reopened them and said, "The left path is the right one."

"What's on the right one?"

"Demons we're not prepared to take on, but rest assured, the left side isn't exactly clear," Christy replied, walking into the left path as she conjured a fireball into her hand. This both illuminated the cave as well as Christy's features.

"So what do you know about Valen?" Billie asked.

"I know plenty. The demonic gossip channel has been spreading with impressive speed and we all know that the power known as Valen has been freed. By that damn Avo, nonetheless. Consider it safe to assume that the target is painted on Paige's back, for certain," Christy stopped and pushed Billie back with her free arm. She stared into the air before her and cooly released the ball of fire straightaway and it collided with the air. Seconds later, a camouflaged demon exploded. "As I was saying..."

"How'd you know he was there?" Billie asked.

"I know these necks of the _woods_," Christy replied. "Tons of traps laid here. Deceiving demons only want those who are worthy enough to breathe through these tunnels and labyrinths. Making our way to Valen is going to be extremely difficult, but you'll get there quicker with me acting as your talking map now."

"Wait! Who said anything about going to Valen?" Billie questioned, stopping.

"We need to investigate this army. I've yet to see any of them yet and in the case they're the same ones that once served Valen before, I have to see if they're dotage or actually a threat," the firestarter answered.

"Why would she revive the ones who killed her?" Billie asked.

"Valen may look as if she has the power to create new beings with a snap of her fingers, but they actually do come from somewhere. She conjures vengeful spirits to inhabit bodies that she can create with snapping," Christy explained, contradicting the text that Billie read earlier. "Have you ever heard of the Grave Ritual?"

"Is that anything like the Living Grave?" Billie asked.

"No, the Living Grave was a stupid mistake. If it wasn't for demons scared of higher powers threatening their ranks, someone would've freed her long ago," Christy explained. "All it takes is one person with power to obliterate, or in this case, melt down the large casket which buried her and a willing body to possess. The Grave Ritual was an alternative to killing her where a circle of assorted ingredients are surrounding Valen's essence and all the spirits fall out of their bodies and kill her."

"They kill her? _Just_ like that?" Billie asked. "Why wasn't this approach taken?"

"Servants weren't up for making sacrifices. The spirits would've lost their own essence by caging Valen and even as just an essence, Valen could've quickly destroyed them all if she acted quick enough. These demons just didn't have the fireballs in them to move quicker and act smarter," Christy explained as they entered a new lair. "Once they destroyed her previous body, they activated the Living Grave which summoned her into it and threw away the key."

"Do you think we have it in us to take her down?" Billie asked. "I remember Cameron's mother saying something about me being able to command spirits. What if I commanded Valen's own spirits against her?"

"The only issue with that is that unless we can expel all these spirits out of the bodies without us vanquishing the bodies, we can't gain their trust. Also, if she's managed to gain new spirits, they won't want to betray their new Queen," Christy said. "They'll do it all; kill other demons, rub her feet, or blow off their own heads if it amuses her."

"So what if we successfully destroyed her body?" Billie asked.

"It depends on the body. Who'd she take over?"

"Rose, this pyrokinetic chick with the genetics of a witch and demon. I think she's more mortal than demon though," Billie said. "Before the demonic possession, at least."

"We can definitely destroy her body. With the right spell and plan, the flesh will come crumbling off and we can quickly act against the essence. I think if we can separate enough of it at a time, we can focus at the heart of her spirit and send her packing for good," the firestarter suggested and halted. "But for now, we got company."

A circle of demons shimmered and flamed in around them, all armed with fireballs.

"You can't get them to hold off?" Billie quickly asked, looking around to see who she should fight first in the case Christy couldn't.

"They work for better paying bosses," Christy replied before exploding two demons with a swift gesture of her hand and the powers of her mind.

**(X)**

Paige returned to the Great Hall ten minutes after speaking with Billie, carrying a bouquet of white lilies. She saw Piper trying to even out a couple of chairs in the front row and said aloud, "We forgot these in Leo's office."

Piper flipped around and saw what Paige was talking about and then asked, "Why'd you go see Leo?"

"See if he knows anything about Valen, of course," Paige replied, walking down the aisle, not realizing she was carrying the bouquet as if she was the bride of the day. "He wasn't even too familiar with what Billie found out from the textbook. It was a first for him to not really know something, so this power must be bad." Paige sat down on one of the chairs and said, "Look, Piper, I gotta be honest with you right now."

"Uh oh," Piper said, moving the chair she had been working hard to even out to turn to Paige. She sat down and quickly folded her hands on her lap, "What's up?"

"Billie went off into the Underworld," Paige quickly let out, almost regretting it as Piper disappointedly looked at her. "Look – hear me out. We came down on her pretty hard and in the interest of no hard feelings, I basically advised her to go and do something that she was about to go behind our backs and do anyway."

"Oh, well when you put it like that, I guess it's okay!" Piper sarcastically exploded, detaching her hands from one another and waving them around. Understanding the risk of flailing her hands about in an emotional state, Piper quickly returned them back down on her lap. "Paige, this isn't the Dogan or some Scavenger demon or whatever. This is an ageless demonic power that might give us Charmed Ones a run for our money. Billie may be good and all, but defeating some powerful demon like that is going to require potions packing more than your average punch."

Piper rose from her seat and began to walk down the aisle, quickly followed by Paige who asked, "And where are you going?"

"To try and see if Leo thinks we have enough power to at least hold off Valen long enough to snatch Billie and get out of there," Piper quickly replied. "Her life is on the line, what were you thinking, Paige?" The eldest noticed that the footsteps behind her stopped and she turned around in realization. "This is about the Elders, isn't it?"

"Yeah, those Robes who basically forced people to do their work for them. The same people who forced _me_ to try and force someone else to do something against her will and look where that got her," Paige voiced. "I just am under a new belief system where people should be allowed to either make their own choices, their own mistakes, and learn from them. I'm not about locking someone into their _destiny_ which seems like a load of crap in itself. How can it be destiny when we're telling someone which way to go on a forked road?"

"Be that as it may, Paige, we can't be surprised that the Elders screwed up. If you want, I can go home and get a book where I've been keeping tally on how wrong they've been, but this lesson you're trying to live under is only going to get people killed. You're no Elder and should you die-" Piper stopped as Paige had a grim expression plastered on her porcelain face and resumed, "_Which_ you won't because you are Paige Matthews and you're going to live _forever_, I don't think being an Elder would suit you. You have a clear enough conscience to realize right from wrong and you were only under an impression that what the Elders believed about Rebecca was gold. You believed in destiny which is something you shouldn't stop believing." She scoffed, "Come on, you met two angels of it already."

Paige chuckled and smacked herself on the forehead, "Okay, so I screwed up. I think Billie's safe though."

"Based on what?"

"She was trying to meet up with Christy and knowing our determined Billie, it's likely that she found some way to find her in the Underworld," Paige assumed.

"We still have to go and get her," Piper commented, trying to figure out something in her mind. "We're going to leave Phoebe out of this though."

"You said we'd need the Power of Three."

"If we're going to kill her, which we're not. This is simply a rescue mission and Phoebe doesn't need to even know about this. Let's not give her a reason to pick a wrestling match with Billie and we can all come back, get dressed up and have a wedding," Piper concluded, clapping her hands together and storming out of the Great Hall with Paige on her tail.

**(X)**

Paige stood behind a desk in an empty classroom with her phone to her ear as she flipped through a book, "Henry, you can't come. We're already concerned enough about this demon for ourselves and I can't have you running in there." She listened briefly and cut him off, "Look, I love you too, which is why I'm not orbing home to let you come on this suicide mission. Billie needs our help and it's my fault, but we're sending Phoebe to help you with Peter and the girls as a ploy to not notice we're missing."

The Witchlighter walked around the desk and gave up looking for a way to contact Phoenix assassins and said, "I'm sorry, I really gotta go now. Just keep Phoebe busy and don't let her know what we're up to. Just keep telling her that we must be working on some surprise or whatever."

"Paige, I think your sister will notice no surprise at her wedding," Henry commented.

"That'll be our problem. Love you. Bye," Paige flipped the phone closed before Henry could argue any further about the way to carry her destiny. This was something she was going to be in control of.

As opposed to someone calling out for her, Paige looked up and shouted, "Cameron?! Look, if you can hear me, I really need your help." No response. She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Watch him come if he hears Billie's-" she was interrupted by the sound of swarming bees as a flow of particles rose up from the floor and coalesced into the mercenary Cameron. "-name."

"What's going on?" Cameron asked.

"Billie's in some real trouble. Cliffnotes version: Big, bad, demonic entity named Valen is free and is inside of Rose and Billie is meeting up with her sister in some of the scarier levels of the Underworld to get the dish on defeating Valen," Paige recapped. "Piper and I could really use the help."

"What about Phoebe?"

"Her wedding is today and if she can go through hers without battling a demon, she'd be the first. You know you care about Billie, I could tell with the way she spoke of you and the way you come running at her name. You know you want to help her," Paige pressed on, desperate. "If we really have to, I'll pay you and as a mercenary, you'll be forced to come anyway."

"No pay necessary. I'm a good tour guide for the deeper layers of the Underworld. I've had more than enough experience searching for... Well, I know my way around. I gotta admit though, I don't know much about this Valen character, but if she's inhabiting a mortal body, I'll be able to improvise," Cameron said.

Piper walked in with her brown shirt singed in a couple of places, but victorious with two pouches of vial-shaped bulges.

"What happened to you?" Paige asked.

"I found a couple of students mixing some potions and I traded them some tips for these bad boys right here, but they weren't strong enough. So I spiked them with some stronger ingredients and most of them came out perfect while others..." She stopped, pointing at her shirt with her free hand. "You can figure that out." She turned to Cameron, "So you're the mercenary. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Are we ready to go?" Cameron asked, anxiously scratching the back of his head as he desired to get to Billie as soon as possible.

Piper moved over to Paige and handed her one pouch. "They are all explosives. Some are fiery and one student told me that a couple are electrifying. We'll surprise ourselves when the time comes." She locked arms with Paige.

"Follow my lead," Cameron informed before exploding into a stream of particles which circled around for a while and phased through the floor. Quickly following him, Paige and Piper orbed after him.

**(X)**

After successfully destroying the horned guard with a combo of an energy ball and Piper's power, Cameron lead the two witches through the Underworld and into the same path Billie and Christy had taken, where they too, fought an ambushing gang of demons.

"Tell me again, how do you know that this is the same way Billie went?" Paige said.

"I can kinda sense her. Think of it like a scent, I should say, but more of a mental one," Cameron explained.

"Yeah, we're aware of what sensing is, buddy," Piper replied, cautiously looking around for anymore demons to blow up.

They passed a cavern archway with sigils written in blood and the mercenary explained, "This is a district of the Underworld that few get out alive unless you have connections. Since Billie is with Christy, she should've gone through without trouble. We, on the other hand, aren't going to be as fortunate."

"So who's blood is that staining the walls?" Piper asked, pointing.

"That's human blood. Inside there is a minotaur who feeds off a flesh and Christy must be really connected if he didn't snack on her or Billie," Cameron explained, beginning to walk in. "As long as we keep our distance from him, we should be fine."

"Is there any way to actually vanquish it?" Paige asked.

"Minotaurs generally don't put up fights as big as this, but this one has been demonically strengthened and has lived in these parts for at least a century."

The three were all in and an iron gate fell down behind them, though Paige and Piper were quite sure they hadn't even seen any gap within the archway for a gate to exist. "This is not good," Piper muttered.

"How do you think the minotaur ever gets to survive? Once everyone sees him, they would run so he had someone place a gate down," Cameron explained some more. "We can't kill him, but there is a weapon in there that can stun him for about a few hours which is more than enough time to _crawl _to freedom if you're that badly hurt."

"How the hell do you know all of this? Are you sure you're not a demon?" Piper asked.

Cameron sighed, looking around for the minotaur in the red dusty layered cavern. "I came here looking for my father a few years ago after he was killed. Long story short, we found his body deeper in. My mother was able to lead the way since she was once a renegade for the Underworld in hopes of finding some demon, so I was properly educated on this hell-hole. Is that enough for you?"

No one had time to answer as a heavy being dropped to the ground, spraying red dust all around his hoofed feet. His brick-hard skin was leathery brown and black cloth draped around his waist and the minotaur's crimson red eyes were locked on the three people he hoped to soon feast on. He lowered his head, showing off the heavy curved black horns existing out from his temples.

Piper stepped in front of both Cameron and Paige and began to unleash her power with rapid hand gestures. The explosions were scarring his chest and she next aimed for his horns which only bounced back onto her and threw her off of her feet.

The minotaur began to charge towards them and Cameron fired off as many buzzing energy balls as he could with the hybrid beast closing the space in between them.

Paige held out her hand before her and shouted, "Minotaur!" She forced the beast to be swallowed in heavenly orbs and clouted the air with her hand and sent the minotaur crashing into the wall. She then tapped into her standard telekinetic power and pinned him to the wall with both her hands for assurance. "I'll try to hold him still, just take him down."

"Perfect, but this isn't the way to get him. That is!" Cameron pointed at an ax leaning against a wall down a stretched path and said, "You keep him bound as I go run and get that!" The blond shrank into mass particles and began to swim through the cavern in a wave-like fashion, leaving Piper on the ground and Paige frozen as she applied telekinetic pressure.

"Hurry!" Paige shouted, not receiving an answer. The Witchlighter turned to her sister, concerned, but she had to keep her opponent glued down. She returned her amber gaze to him, stretching her hands out farther as she felt him resisting and she figured the gesture would keep him restrained. The minotaur roared, louder each moment, and his eyes began to burn with fury. Paige noticed she was losing control as his shade-black tipped fists pounded the ground, proving to be of immense strength to make Paige lose even more balance.

Piper struggled to lift herself up, which only grew more difficult as the minotaur's strength seemed to mimic an earthquake. She congratulated herself on leaving Phoebe back as the middle sister would've only allowed her fear of earthquakes to empower her in this deadly battle. She finally gained a stance, failing to freeze the minotaur as she thought she would and ran over to Paige. "What are we waiting on?"

Paige turned to see Cameron charging towards the minotaur with the ax, wondering why he wouldn't just teleport and this thought alone was too much pressure on an already unsteady mental hold on the minotaur. The telekinesis dropped and as Paige attempted to hold him back, he had already gained enough velocity charging at them to fight through her power. Piper quickly grabbed her half-sister's arm, silently urging her to carry them away before that minotaur reached them with his earth-pounding stomps and overwhelming physical strength. Paige began to walk backwards, taking Piper with her and only hoped that she would trust her not to ask questions. The eldest turned around to see why Paige would walk instead of orb and flipped back around to stare down the impending threat of the minotaur collision.

The minotaur was a couple of feet away and Paige quickly called on her power, orbing both her and Piper out in joint-columns of heavenly lights and the minotaur charged past as only a sprinkle of orbs remained and crashed against the opposite wall. The sisters reappeared a good distance away from the powerful creature and Paige smirked at her success as the minotaur had rammed his head inside the wall, stuck.

"I doubt that's going to last too long," Piper commented, knowing all too easily that the minotaur could just pull himself out. Her and Paige turned to Cameron, who had been running down this very long lair but didn't seem out of breath. "Why can't you teleport?"

Cameron continued to sprint, not wasting necessary breath to inform them of what he already knew. The ax itself wasn't heavy, but it wouldn't allow itself to be carried through teleporting. It was just heavily enchanted against that, so the mercenary just accelerated his own speed as he saw the minotaur struggling in his weak spot. Just as he reached a few feet, he saw the minotaur pull himself free, causing a portion of the wall to crumble to the ground. "Be a good little minotaur and don't move."

The mercenary already knew attempting a direct hit when the minotaur could see him wasn't going to work, so he was going to have to perform a simple trick to outsmart him long enough to get a good hit in. He took a couple of steps back and pitched the ax with such a propelling speed that the checker-colored blade with the dark gray handle was lost in its own blur as it flew towards the minotaur. Cameron quickly exploded into particles and glided with such great speed to catch up with the ax, willing himself to reach the minotaur before he did. He flew past the ax, noting that it too was very close to the minotaur, so he quickly reassembled his particles in a crouched stance, and stepped on the minotaur's foot, tickling him. The minotaur looked down, raising his heavy hand to smack Cameron away with tremendous force as the mercenary caught the ax and slashed it into the creature's chest where he noticed several other gashes of other's success; he wondered which of these gashes was the one his mother dealt on the beast.

The minotaur's arm stood still in the air, before he fell onto his back, blowing dust into the air where it descended back down to lightly blanket him. Cameron didn't care to boast of his deed, but only returned full height and said, "We gotta keep moving, we might be running out of time to save Billie."

"Don't you think you could've saved us some time by teleporting over with the ax?" Paige asked as she and Piper moved closer to the Phoenix.

"The ax is enchanted for no one to use any shortcuts. The minotaur wants a nice, long battle as he's one of those play-with-your-food types, so the ax can't be summoned or anything of that sort. You have to generally sweat with blood and ache with bruises before you can even get close to that thing; luckily, we're all kick-ass and bruise-less."

"Speak for yourself," Piper said, rubbing her abdomen. "Not to boast of my power, but getting a taste of what the enemy gets really hurts."

"Not really fair to say since the demons generally blow up, but I get what you mean," Paige said, turning to Cameron. "Now, how about you do that gliding-thing you do and we'll follow you in orbs. I'm sure you're capable of following Billie's _scent_ in that mode."

"It's possible, but we might have to pop out every few minutes or so. If we just fly past the enemy, they'll all come chasing after us at once and we may kick ass, but they'll be overwhelming in numbers," Cameron explained. "Until then, follow me."

**(X)**

The heat was overwhelming against Billie's skin, but it had been worst when she battled the Fire Lords to retrieve her sister's tracking stone to locate her. She turned to this same sister and Christy didn't look the least bit bothered by the waves of heat near this lair which greatly contrasted the chilling and haunting winds in the immediate Underworld level; she wondered how much more Christy felt in her core than the regular demons.

Christy was insulted. Not because Billie was apparently inconsiderate to her telepathic power that she would put it past Christy to hear what her sister was thinking when she was this quiet, but because Billie was having trouble dealing with the fact that Christy hadn't asked to be kidnapped and couldn't help it if she wasn't like the others. Cold inside and resistant to the Underworld's heat, to an extent. These thoughts alone proved that she was different, but she wasn't going to admit this. She just wasn't.

"Billie, keep quiet now. If Valen is there, there's a chance that even our whispers are going to sound like a tree dropping in a forest for her, ending that whole ridiculous mystery; yes, of course the tree makes a sound." The firestarter rolled her eyes, continuing on. "If you can even attempt clearing your mind blank of thoughts and only absorbing what you hear, that would be great," Christy said, looking down the long pathway they would have to walk before they reached the lair where she knew Valen's original tomb to be. Some proof was the fact they were walking on a silver floor, one they had been walking on for about a mile.

"It's kinda hard not to think, Christy," Billie replied.

Christy shrugged, "I guess it's easier for a telepath."

"I don't see how as you can hear other's thoughts," Billie said, not understanding.

_So she didn't forget _Christy thought to herself. "The mind of a telepath is in the control of the telepath. If I choose to shut out all thoughts from everywhere, with the proper practice that I've gained, I can do so. It's about as easy as not listening to a crowded room of people chatting, but it can be done. Lesson taught, so let's move on."

The two sisters walked in silence, where Christy was telepathically listening to Billie attempting to clear her mind blank as she could, but it was proving difficult.

_How can I not think? Just don't think of anything. But I can't help it. Even when I think I'm not thinking, I start thinking about the things I generally don't need to think about like walking. Left, right, left, right. Blinking too. And breathing. _Billie looked down at her chest, watching it rise and fall back quickly in anticipation of... _Valen. That ancient power has thrown herself into that chick who wants to torch me... No, not thinking. Just don't. _

Christy grinned at her sister's attempt, a sincere grin. A grin that was very human. She remembered grinning a lot as a child. Mostly her times with Billie when she was at an age to walk so they could play together and share the attention. Any time before that was her age where jealously overwhelmed her until Billie napped and slept; then she would get attention. Memories of her childhood were more proof that Billie was wrong about her. Her need for approval from her younger sister was something she also had to prove there was a human feel about her. Actions spoke louder than words, said or unsaid.

They reached the cave's entrance and they absorbed its grandeur for an Underworld setting. Billie thought it seemed to belong on earth's surface to be admired by many, but Christy thought it was perfect where it was as you either had enough respect to approach this great sight or you bled and risked your life to reach here. They looked in on this demonic palace, having to near squint to look at the end to see Rose sitting on a black throne with badger-colored hair underneath the great domed ceiling of the lair.

Demons were marching around, carrying out chores such as keeping the lair glowing with fireballs in their palms, brandishing swords, daggers, and axes, and the insulting, yet rewarding task of fighting to the death for Rose's entertainment. The sisters looked at each other and Billie knew she was thinking too much, but hoped that everything going on would keep herself from being heard. After all, could Valen really hear thoughts or was Christy just taking extra precaution?

"I was taking extra precaution, now be quiet," Christy whispered, almost inaudibly.

Billie grabbed Christy's arm and ushered her down the hall and whispered, "Okay, we can clearly see that she has an army. Let's just get the hell out of here now. We have no way of taking her on, not without help."

"Damn right you don't," a booming voice echoed through the hall. Billie and Christy looked around and Christy grabbed her younger sister's arm and flamed out, except the result wasn't materializing on earth's surface. They were right in the middle of all the demons inside Valen's lair. It was clear that she had caught them before they could escape and relocated them there. Rose stood from her throne, piercing Billie with her sapphire stare, "Hmm. Sorcerous talents have recently evolved through your blood. Interesting, but you're too young in power to be a threat to me."

"Underestimating me can only work out on my end," Billie shouted back, but the courage she attempted to apply was absent and it was obvious just how scared she was.

Rose floated down from the six foot gray stage and onto the silver plated ground. She smirked as she saw Christy throw herself in front of Billie and said, "You were raised by the Triad, yet you defend a feeble sorceress just because she's family? I'm assuming that the three were too busy twiddling their ancient claws to actually rip apart the fantasies of family."

"They did their job, but it was more of a taste of my flaming hot medicine that helped me reevaluate myself," Christy replied, the courage evident in her voice; she held no fear of dying. "I no longer have to be their little hitman."

"And what a poor little assassin you must've been. Charmed Ones live and breathe, your pathetic sister is alive, and the Triad are squirming around in the Wasteland. You truly screwed things up, but I suppose destiny works itself out in that funny way it does. You see, destiny doesn't always work in favor of the good guys. Every now and then, great evils are reborn and they're charged with the task of overcoming the challenges other demons have gone through," Rose smiled and looked psychotic as she clawed through her streaked hair and raised her other hand. "Care to take a guess who's going for the challenge?" She lowered her hand and addressed all her demons, "Make me proud."

Billie and Christy stood back to back as demons and fireballs began to close in on them.

**(X)**

The two Charmed Ones and Cameron were following the sounds of explosions and shouts echoing through the hollow corridors of the Underworld by foot as it wasn't easy to follow in teleportation modes. When the ground under them felt different, they all stopped with the same shared confused expression on their faces. They looked down as if the ground under them was about to collapse right out from under their feet, but it stood there, though it resembled the plated floors leading to a grand castle.

"Did I doze off while orbing and accidentally bring us to Oz, Piper?" Paige asked, looking ahead at the continuing trail where the source of sounds continued.

"I feel closer to Billie, she's down this way," Cameron gave himself a head start before shattering into countless particles that eagerly sped towards the lair's opening.

The sisters looked at each other, realizing the moment was here. Somehow it felt bigger than it should've; this was just a rescue mission, not some big battle, yet it felt as if Phoebe should've been standing there with them. Paige even wanted to suggest orbing back to get her, but there would be no way that they could return in time. Heaven forbid something happened because of a flawed suggestion of Paige's...

Piper offered her hand and Paige wordlessly dropped her porcelain hand on top of her sister's palm, clasping it with such an iron-clad grip that she confirmed to Piper that they both shared the same concerns. Orbs from the heavens that Paige wanted no part of consumed her and Piper, carrying them into battle. They reappeared inside the lair, and Paige couldn't help but admire what a lair it was. She wondered if Phoebe lived in an additional luxury from the Penthouse when she was Queen.

"Down!" Piper shouted to Paige and she didn't wait for her younger sister to respond herself as she dragged her down to the ground. The fireball flew over their heads and exploded against the brute chest of another demon. They didn't pay any attention to the defeat as he blew up in the same fashion as the hundred demons before him and the light show lost its flare.

The two witches looked up and saw Cameron with two black sai daggers in the grips of his hands and he permitted one to fly from his hand and fought off another braided demon with the other sai. The mercenary was so confident with every reason as the flying sai embedded itself into the heart of a demon and blew him up. When the flames dispersed, Billie was visible on the ground with a gape of blood falling from her arm.

"Billie!" Paige shouted as she and Piper jumped to their feet, holding hands as they ran past dozens of energy and fireballs. With her free hand, Piper froze a lightning bolt buzzing their way and unfroze it after they made past it. The voltage-shrilling screams of a demoness echoed for a moment before becoming lost amongst the volume of war.

The sorceress was on her feet, staring directly over Piper and Paige as she gestured her good arm forward. The Halliwells spun around to see that a wave of four demons, all wielding weapons, were flying off their feet as their weapons hovered above them. Billie kept her focus, concentrating on the three swords and ax as she relinquished her grip, allowing the weapons to drop. Like Cameron, she didn't bother to watch the result as too many things were going on.

Piper and Paige reached Billie and before either could ask what was going on, Billie quickly said, "Cover me. I need time to focus on building a safe haven."

"Safe haven? Billie, this is an open battlefield with all obstructions being blown up," Piper replied, questioning her sanity.

"She can do it," Paige assured, remembering the projection shield she manifested during the Magic School battle. She turned, just in time to wave an energy ball back at its sender – or at least another demon – and blew him up.

Piper covered several angles, tearing apart the weak flesh each demon seemed to be wearing with her grand power. She almost struck down a woman in black when she realized it was Christy. The temptation to still blow her up didn't fade completely, but she trusted that she was an ally and in a battle against demons that couldn't be counted off with all their hands combined, all support counted.

A volley of fireballs, energy balls, and misty clouds from cyrokinetic power flew towards the three witches. Before Paige and Piper could react, they realized the red dust around their feet was swimming into the air around their ankles and a sigil rested as an imprint on the ground. All the elemental attacks proceeded forward but came to a stop, absorbed by a sudden shield of fluorescent red.

"It's a barrier, obviously," Billie said. "It won't hold any longer than my projection can offer, but it's less draining. What are you guys doing here?"

"You're welcome," Piper said, turning her back as she examined the sorcery barrier protecting them. "How come I feel like I'm trapped like any other demon?"

"I wouldn't advise it, but you're more than willing to step out and prove you're no prisoner," Billie searched the grounds for Christy and saw that her sister was crawled up against the wall with demons crowding her. "Christy!"

Two black blurs, resembling wingless bats, flew under the chins of several demons and didn't stop. Cameron's sais continued to slice the necks of each demon, forcing them to regret their actions as they couldn't summon that last breath they were all begging for. Once all the demons exploded and left Christy safe in her corner, the sais returned to Cameron like obedient frisbees.

A demon struggled to his feet, knocked to the ground somehow, and Cameron sped towards him and hopped onto his back and flipped forwards the next trio of demons interested in hurting Billie. He landed on his feet and rolled forward, regaining full height a moment later. He plunged both sais into the back of a demon, pulled them out and he hopped over the demon as he dropped to the ground in flames.

Cameron rolled in between both demons, who were wise enough not to throw their fireballs at each other as Paige had been fortunate once, but the Phoenix hopped into the space between them and with legs extended to each side, he kicked them square in the chest and forced them to disperse their attacks at the risk of collapsing on them. "Billie – into the wall against one another!"

The mercenary awaited Billie to respond to his command as another demon crept up on him, but Cameron simply swung his sai back into the abdomen of the demon. He released his hold on the demon and quickly threw an energy ball at another. He watched as Billie swept the two former demons into the wall, one lined up against the other. Piper froze them in place, much to Cameron's dismay as he wanted them to see their deaths coming. He let fly his last sai again, enjoying how theatrical he'd chosen to be when he decided what he wanted to make of them. The sai stabbed one in his throat and since they were so tight together, it killed the other as well. Both blew up in hellish flames, freeing the bloodier sai to the ground.

Before Cameron could summon his weapons back to him, he was thrown off his feet by such telekinetic force that a sickening noise accompanied his collision into the metal wall. He was still.

"Cameron!" Billie ran out of the barrier, breaking the shield as she carried the power, and she was assaulted in the back with a sphere of gold and sapphire. A beautiful attack that sent Billie flipping forward in an unnatural fashion and slammed her into the metallic wall as well, dropping her by the man she proved she loved with her concern in a perilous time.

Piper and Paige flipped around, only for the eldest to see the same beautiful shot flying in her direction. She moved to freeze it, but the power was at such a profound level it only phased it to a slower speed and still collided into the Halliwell. Piper flew back helplessly and her body joined Billie and Cameron's. Paige feared what would happen to her when she turned away from the pile to face her attacker.

It was just that.

The attacker stood an inch from her face and Rose glared her down with glowing sapphire eyes. "Paige, I haven't the slightest idea on where you went wrong with me. To think, had I chose the angel over the devil that day in New York, I wouldn't be clothed in such fine Evil right now."

Paige wished she could orb Valen right out of Rose, but she knew it was outside her ability's reach by hundred miles. "Rose. Fight her, you're strong enough to win."

Rose heavily smacked Paige across the mouth, sending her flying a couple of feet and onto her back. "Cut the Whitelighter-tongue lest I do it for you."

The Witchlighter dabbed her bloody lip with her pale hand, staining it instantly. She scanned the grounds and saw in a far off corner, Reynold looked on with a hint of fear noticeable, even from the distance. She imagined what he must look like up front, that damn traitor. She resisted the feeling to orb over and punch him clear across the face, but she feared Valen would just grab her orbs and banish them into another realm. She had to save them all, even Christy, but she couldn't find her at the moment. Not with Rose's deadly glare set upon her.

Acting quickly, Paige swept her hand across the air towards the pile of bodies, and focused on where she wanted them to go. She didn't want to reveal the location aloud, scared she'd be bringing demons into one of their homes, but she trusted in her power above all and watched as Piper, Cameron, and Billie were swallowed in orbs that vanished.

"I care not about them. I can chase Billie down at any given time, in fact, I'll make the hunt so bad she'll just give herself up," Rose commented, then her cool tone shifted venomous when she pierced Paige again with that sapphire gaze. "You on the other hand..."

Paige apologized for Christy in her head, knowing she had too much to live for now to attempt engaging in combat with Rose and the power of Valen. Orbs danced around the Witchlighter and understood her rush, vacuuming her body faster than usual, but she saw Rose aim her hand and felt as if everything slowed down. The momentum of her orbs were snail-slow and yet, Rose seemed so cheetah-fast as she approached Paige. "Being stuck in between is always the worst. Neither living nor dead." She raised her hand and a silver light flew from the core of her palm and bathed Paige like sunlight.

Time resumed and the orbs carried Paige free from the battlefield.

**(X)**

Paige's body dropped out of orbs in the Halliwell manor, sprawled against the attic floor. Piper's body was laid out, but her breathing seemed to be stable as she was recovering judged by the slow flutter of her eyes. Cameron was lifting his head up slowly, but speed jolted in him as he felt Billie's presence beside him and he rushed to check on her. Billie wasn't responding as Cameron picked her up from under her neck and looked around, "How'd we get here?"

Piper figured she was in the attic of her own home, unfortunately recognizing what her floor felt like due to being slammed down onto it countless times over the year. She pulled herself up and rubbed the back of her head, "Paige must've orbed us here since all the kids are at her house. I'm guessing she didn't want demons to follow us..." She turned and saw Paige, unmoving. "Paige?"

Cameron looked up, still holding onto Billie. "What's wrong with her?"

"Paige?" Piper weakly crawled over to Paige, poking her arm with a hard jolt. "Paige?" Piper dropped her head to Paige's chest, feeling the heart beat against her cheek and heard it clearly. She moved to Cameron and informed, "She's alive, her breathing is a little slower than it should be coming back from that fast-paced battle, but...she's alive. What's wrong with her?"

The mercenary used his extrasensory abilities to study the Witchlighter and his eyes saw a sapphire blue cage around her heart. He knew this was a tactic used by both Elders and demons when they wanted to punish someone they couldn't kill. The closest to death, but he knew this to be the work of Valen's power as the signature color was present. "She's alive, but she's stuck between life and death. She's comatose."

**End of Chapter. **

**Author's Note: So yeah, this chapter took forever to come out. It was written early last year if I remember correctly, maybe summer (?), but I wasn't satisfied nor inspired enough to post it just yet. The next chapter is insanely important to the overall arch of identity and family in this story and has been a long time coming – way before the Prologue had it's first words written across that file almost three years ago. So, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you thought. **


	25. Ghost Whitelighter

**A/Note: **Well, I generally don't leave the synopsis at the opening of the chapters, occasionally just a teaserline, but I kinda just wanna leave this here. I was going to be posting this chapter after I completed Chapters 26, 27 and 28, but since I'm having potential laptop issues, I wanted to leave something for you guys. I didn't want to mess with any continuity that might bite me in the ass later, so I simplified it in this chapter. I hope you enjoy, this is one of my favorites right up there with "Halliwells". I hope the finale is written with as much effort as I put here.

**Chapter 25 – Ghost Whitelighter**

**Teaserline:** As her spirit stays still, time goes by...

**Synopsis: **After the eventful battle against Valen's power, the family has been shattered as Paige is under an intense coma cast by primeval magic. While the family's safe due to Billie's magical assistance, the barrier she has projected for them has left them in a predicament that will only work against freeing Paige from her cursed slumber.

Unfortunately for Paige, the world still cycles in natural order as her spirit is confined to the hospital room her body rests in. What forces lie beyond that may save Paige from this dark enchantment?

_**July 1st, 2007. **_

Shackled to the body that wouldn't move, Paige in the transparent vision of a spirit, stared at her actual body resting peacefully atop the white sheeted bed, dressed in a matching gown with blue speckles and her dark hair against what she assumed to be a comfortable white pillow. It was too much white to the point it nerved her, but there was nothing she could do. She was connected to a couple machines, pressure wraps around her arms, and wires that monitored her heart rate and other things, but she hated this sight of her, so beyond vulnerable. As she had learned already, there was nothing she could do.

Her spirit had been ejected from her body for over a week, confined to this room as wherever her body went, so did she. She was a conscious prisoner inside the hospital ward, as her body didn't even feel to be a part of her any longer as she felt so distant from it, even if she was just a couple ghostly footsteps away.

All the times she banished or studied a spirit, she'd never tried to make sense of how long it took them to be able to use the deathly abilities they wielded. She just wanted to be able to possess someone for a few minutes, just so she could speak to Henry and let him know that she wasn't dead (obviously) nor in a coma forever and would eventually find a passage free. She wanted to see her son and daughters, even if she still clearly remembered how they looked and didn't seem to be losing any memory or anything else in her time between the world of life and death. Except her sanity.

Everything was out of her control and beyond her power. There would be no orbing away from this problem, whenever she talked, her voice wasn't heard and she couldn't even break the barriers that kept her room-bound. She didn't want to be a spirit, hovering between life and death for so long that she was able to teach herself these powers, but if it was her only option, she would just have to find patience. Through patience, power would follow.

In her short time as a spirit, that felt twice as long than a week due to her inability to rest, Paige continued to practice her meditation techniques to preserve the peace in her spirit. As much as she was willing to wait until she could develop spiritual powers, she didn't want them to be channeled through anger, resentment or fury.

The door opened and Billie transpired, a gothic black leather bag fastened around her shoulder and a crystal vase assorted of different, colorful flowers. Whether Paige was in a coma or not, Billie was the type to knock and enter without waiting for a reply; at least she had the sense to not bother knocking. The sorceress looked exhausted, her usual excessive energy absent. Paige wondered if it was because she had finally settled down after getting many of her affairs in order, such as fulfilling her quest to embrace her inner sorceress and finding Christy, or if she was up to something new.

Apart from the poorly combed hair and the dark circles under her eyes, the bounce in her step was gone. She approached Paige in such a sluggish manner, looking like an employee going through the same routine at work every morning. She planted the flowers down besides Paige on the push-a-way table next to her after having had to move some other flowers and cards from family, friends and charges.

"Hey, Paige," Billie said, the red in her eyes evidence of her guilt. "I don't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I can't seem to make much sense of my power in saving you, I figured I'd share. Cameron's mother told me I'd be able to commune with spirits easily, but I can't find you." The young blonde sat on top of an uncomfortable black chair, but she lounged back, seeming to find rest in sitting alone. "Maybe it has something to do with whatever black magic Valen imprinted on your soul."

Paige walked over to the opposite side of the bed and just gazed at a guilty Billie. "I wish you would just rest and stop blaming yourself." She recognized this same Billie from when she was only a witch who had killed her sister in defense, but the difference was that the only thing Billie could do was to accept her actions as attempting to use her power to return through time only failed. The next time she'd seen Billie, who had done soul-searching in her actions, was close to the same Billie she'd learn to love before the trials of the Ultimate Battle. She feared Billie would be clinging onto desperate hope to save her and as touched as she was, she didn't want the young sorceress to direct her life around her.

But, her ghostly words were spoken to the air around her and never reached Billie's ears.

"Um, but I've been going through some books Cameron got me. One of them spoke of cursed comas and suggested some things I can do to help you out or maybe give you some strength. I figure anything is worth a shot, you know," Billie sheepishly looked down to the floor. "I don't even know if you can hear me, but it's just easier to believe you're still in there somewhere."

She turned to the flowers and said, "Now, these all may play some effect in healing you." She reached for one, then discarded it back into the vase before fully pulling it out and said, "Actually, I can't remember which is which, but I know it's safe. Some flowers, like ingredients within a potion, don't come off as well as others. I got some basil and clover for good wishes and luck, borage for something else and boxwood for endurance. Oh, courage. Borage is for courage. I forgot, I even made that little jingle to it so I wouldn't forget. It went like..." she stopped herself, resisted a yawn, and kept quiet for a couple of seconds. "You probably wouldn't want to hear that anyway, awake or not."

Paige's heart argued, urging for Billie to sing whatever silly memory song she had thought up.

"Anyways, I got a single ambrosia because it represents a love returned, and I just want you to return back to us, the people who love you," Billie said, her eyes bordering tears. She picked up Paige's hand, instantly sending some warmth through Paige's freezing spirit and it was these moments that the Witchlighter loved how her spirit was chained to her body. "My favorite would have to be Angelica, the flower of the angels. I hope they're taking care of you, whether you're walking on some spiritual plane or trapped inside your body, I just hope this flower helps the angels find you if they haven't already."

Billie picked her bag up from the floor and withdrew a purple candle, holding it up. She feigned a grin for Paige, realizing how unnecessary it was as she didn't know of Paige's current presence. "I was going to try a ritual, but I just can't seem to call upon the Powers the spell requires. I was just sampling it back at the house and I couldn't seem to call forth those damn Powers and I really wanna call upon the Powers, Paige, because then I can save you and then you can help me save Christy for the third time."

"Christy?" Paige asked, wondering if a whisper of a thought played into Billie's mind when she responded accordingly.

"Since the night you fell into a coma, I haven't seen Christy. I don't know if she's alive or dead, but I can't track her. I tried the stone and nothing. Summoning spells, nothing. A spell to bring me to her and even in your sleep, you guessed it – nothing." She dropped the candle back into the bag, returned it all onto the floor and buried her face into her hands. "Just like I hope there's something to find in you, I hope there's something left of Christy for me to find. I can't function without knowing either, especially when I became a sorceress who should be able to _know_ these things."

She unearthed her face and took ahold of Paige's hand once more, "I promise you though, I'm looking after your family. I'm protecting them at all times with extra precautions. Crystals, warding spells, and a spell I cast which is aided by my projection power. It has us all hidden from Rose or Valen or whoever the hell she is now along with Avo. It came with a cost though, but to stay hidden from an ancient power such as Valen, we have to keep our powers to a minimum. That's why I'm terrified it might take us forever to save you because we wanna be sure that we won't be exposing everyone at the risk of something backfiring. Just know, Paige, your sisters have been reaching into their connections and hopefully we'll come across something. Someone has to know something. An Elder, a dwarf or whatever." She yawned, not having enough strength to contain it. She stood up, let go of Paige's hand and forced her back into the deathly chill of her spirit.

Billie retrieved her bag from the floor and told Paige, "I'll be back around soon enough. I know Henry wants to stop by to speak with the doctors, so I'm going to get back to the house to stay with the kids." She looked as if she wanted to say more, but she gazed around the room with her doleful green eyes, almost as if she believed Paige was only a foot away from her in some presence. "Yeah..." she turned her back, struggling in a battle with her tears again and vanished from the room.

_Henry_.

_Peter_. _Sarah_. _Samantha_.

The thought of each and everyone one of them cast about an even icier chill to her spirit, causing her to feel as if she'd never be able to hold her husband's hand again or kiss her children's forehead, and as each memory stemmed from another, the root of Paige transforming into a malevolent spirit began.

**(X)**

_**July 2nd, 2007.**_

Nurse May entered the room the next day to shut the blinds by mid-afternoon, accidentally forgetting to have done so the night before. The grim thought of Paige not knowing anyway ran through her mind and she terminated her guilt instantly. "It's a terrible day out there, Mrs. Matthews. Very heavy rain. It looks like those April showers were very much delayed, don't you think?"

May rolled her eyes at herself as she was one of those people who spoke to a comatose patient, unaware if her words were actually processing through their brain waves. It was too early to make sense of anything yet, in terms of Paige. She clapped her hands together, much like a cheerleader, and joyously added, "Well, at least you'll have your daily visitor today. I saw your sister signing in downstairs, I expect she'll be here in a moment. You must really be loved to have so many people coming in to see you since you arrived."

The nurse inspected some of Billie's flowers and noticed some of them were drying out already, "I'll go see which of these I can go save." She took the vase of flowers, robbing Paige of their potential sorcerous effect for the time being when she left the room.

Paige's spirit had just watched the entire scenario in a corner of the room, upset that May closed the blinds. That was her only opportunity to watch the city, awake or silent, and without the power to move the blinds herself, she would only be allowed to listen to the heavy rainfall and thunderous roars, both of which she suspected to be a sign of Valen's plotting. Or was it Rose? She knew she'd seen Rose's body on the exterior, a bit aged with ancient wisdom, but the power she displayed was too tremendous to be that of her own. If only she had saved her last year...

Moments later, Phoebe walked into the room and threw her broken umbrella into the garbage once she reached it. Paige knew her sister to afford those sturdy umbrellas, but it appeared the storm championed a win over Phoebe regardless. Her suede jacket was drenched, possibly ruined beyond saving, but the usual vanity sister didn't seem to care. She approached her sleeping sister, visiting her for the second time after the battle. Paige wondered if this time, Phoebe would actually speak to her.

Phoebe sat on the same chair all the visitors sat on, drenching it, as well as dripping a pool of water around her feet. She tucked her hands between her knees and just stared at Paige's still face, mentally urging her to reawaken this instant. But too many _instants_ passed before Phoebe relinquished the thought.

"You, know, Paige... I just can't believe how you could be so stupid," Phoebe insulted, never looking away from her younger half-sister as she scolded her. "I mean, I've made the same mistake before as well. Running into the Underworld to rescue someone I love, not even scared that he might be in some huge demonic district. Prue _died _because of my mistake. The difference is, you knew very well where Billie was going to be and you only brought Piper and Cameron with you. I have my powers back, I could've helped you fight her off. But no, you wanted to protect my wedding."

Paige looked on, horrified at how upset Phoebe sounded. She thought she and Piper were doing the right thing when they decided to leave Phoebe out of it; a demon-free wedding day, uninterrupted by magic. Looking back on it now, this was the worst interruption for any of the sisters, having won over Prue's astral soul running loose and Phoebe herself going invisible before unknowingly committing to a black wedding.

"Paige, I may never have the perfect wedding and I've made my peace with that. If only one demon stops by, I can handle that, but to realize I was left out from what you knew to be so big a fight that you had to recruit a Phoenix to tag along, I can't help myself but be _pissed _with you. I love you for what you did, but for all I know, you may never come back to us and if that's because of how you wanted to protect my wedding, I just don't know how I'll be able to go on. It'll be my fault for wanting to be a true Cinderella, _finally_, and most importantly, there's you. I can't lose another sister, Paige. Piper can't either," Phoebe's eyes were brimming with tears and slowly began to flow down her already wet cheeks. "We need you to come back to us because if you don't, I know for sure I won't be able to move forward anymore."

Phoebe brushed Paige's hair and cried, "I need you to show me that everyone I love won't die so tragically. I wanna be able to believe Piper, my father, you, and Coop and everyone else in this family will pass of age, with the family gathered around, in their sleep. I wanna believe we can leave happy memories of when we pass and not have to relive nightmares of old battles that claimed the lives of the people we love. Paige, I wanna believe that there's a chance that _I_ may die in my sleep and as selfish as that sounds of me, there's no way I'll be able to relax if you don't come back from this. Me, Piper, and everyone else who can, we will take down Valen and Avo and every other son of a bitch in the Underworld and we'll even destroy the _Underworld _itself. If we can vanquish all the evil in the world, we can rest then. Not before."

"Please," Phoebe begged, sitting there for moments and minutes and even an hour, before she realized her pleas weren't heard. No matter how much she loved Paige, it was going to take more than her begging to wake her up. She touched Paige's hand again, hoping to trigger a concentrated premonition on when Paige would wake up, but no colorful glimpses came to the eyes of the witch. Just some additional bruising to her heart at the thought of her younger sister sleeping to death.

**(X)**

_**July 4th, 2007. **_

Paige missed her children most of all. The son she never birthed, but treated so, as well as the gorgeous daughters who's mirrored looks doubled the love and appreciation of their faces. She missed helping Peter read as he was very smart for his age, a little too smart actually, and Henry shared that Peter's birth mother, Liberty, was intent on her son growing up to be a genius who could escape the crowd of lowlives. Henry hadn't brought them around, only cards and pictures that Peter made because he didn't want them seeing her in that condition. Despite how at peace she looked.

Her thoughts were interrupted at the familiar sound of the door opening and Henry had left awhile ago and didn't purposely leave anything this time around so he could justify why he was always returning to the room, when all he wanted was to spend as much time there so he would be the first face she'd see when he woke up. She was right to think it wasn't her husband, but instead, it was her first love.

Glenn awkwardly approached Paige with his shoulders high and hands buried in his jeans pocket. He looked capable of dropping on top of Paige, pulling her up into an embrace as he cried for her. Instead, he continued to move towards her and never sat down, only looked down on her. "Noogie, you really need a better alarm clock."

Paige smiled, in love with Glenn's humor even if no one else found it funny. Just seeing him again, she wanted to hug him. She'd only seen him recently through pictures over email and at her anniversary dinner.

He moved over, retracted one hand from his pocket and held her seemingly lifeless hand, swinging it like they used to when they were only young teens. "You know, I would've never thought that something like this was going to happen to you. Sure, I worried a lot since my Stretch-Armstrong days, but as I kept hearing your voice every now and again I just figured you would be alright. I mean, come on, you swapped Jess out on our wedding day and left her in Hell, and if our friendship could survive that, I figured you must be Wonder Witch against monsters and demons." He chuckled, then looked down at her face with a concentrated gaze. "It looks like someone caught you without your Amazonium bracelets on."

The Witchlighter's spirit smirked slightly, rolling a mental eye at what a comic book geek Glenn always was. Just to treat his eyes on Halloween one year, she'd even dressed up as Wonder Woman which lead to a rather unforgettable first night together.

"Remember how we were discussing kids, Paige? Well, when you were telling me about your little ones and how Jess and I might start to settle down? Settle down we did. I'm going to be a Daddy, Paige, and whether you can hear me or not, you're still the first person I've told apart from my parents. Jess and I were going to surprise you at your house, but I thought it best to just stay away unless I knew that you weren't wrestling with demons. Jess has no intentions on ending up in that Hellworld place again," Glenn joked, lightening a cruel, dark mood as he always did with Paige. If she was to die, Glenn would cry but would joke with her at her grave. It's just who he was. "I think you traumatized her for good. I was so upset though when I called the house earlier and your friend Billie told me what happened. I rushed right over and two hours later, I still can't wrap my head around this."

He now held her one hand in both of his, squeezing tightly and sending warmth through Paige's spirit. "You're my best friend and even if we grow apart or don't get to have a six hour conversation every other week, I'm sure I'm still yours. I love you so much, Paige, and I'm betting that even though you must miss your family, your life is too exhausting and you'll wake up in a couple days, stretch your arms out all cat-like and feel refreshed."

If tears could've formed on Paige's face, they would cascaded down as Glenn feigned his feelings once more. As they were connected, a slither of his thoughts, being that he was slightly glad she was only in a coma and not dead, entered Paige's own being. She wondered if he was even happy that since she was in a coma, she couldn't fight demons.

Glenn descended down a bit and kissed Paige's hand, not intimate at all, and gently placed her hand back down beside her body. "It's Independence Day so I won't judge your _decision_ to sleep the day in, Snow White, but remember you have a lot to come back to. You better be stretching your arms out soon, Paige. Love you." He composed himself, almost as if he knew Paige was watching him, and slowly exited the room.

**(X)**

_**July 6th, 2007. **_

Paige looked onto the city as the sky was torn apart from quick successions of lightning with an accompanied applause of high-volumed thunder. The streets of San Francisco should've been dark at this time of night, leaving many Innocents who would naturally stumble into alleys prey to warlocks and demons, but the flashes from the lightning left all corners exposed. The heavy rainfall also kept the streets rather deserted, which relieved Paige into believing that none of her charges would be left victim if they were staying home and not making targets of themselves.

"Someone save me already," Paige pleaded aloud to no audience, apart from her body which was looking paler each passing day. Hours, hours, hours, ago, Paige argued with herself that she couldn't possibly get any paler than her natural creamy tone, but even though she was the only thing to look at on the days and nights May shut the blinds, she could tell this difference in herself. It wasn't the same as not catching your skin darken because you look at yourself in the mirror everyday; she could tell her body wasn't looking its healthy best.

Thunder masked the sound of the intense buzzing, but when it died down, Paige looked behind her to see black particles swimming through the air in an impressive rushed elegance by the open door, coalescing into the finely-crafted mercenary, Cameron. He shut the door closed, just as a combination of lightning and thunder were unleashed onto the city. "If only the weatherman knew enough to warn his viewers not to go outside at the risk of rain and dark, demonic, ancient powers brewing." He approached Paige's resting body and out of all her visitors, he looked the least mournful.

He looked around the room, almost as if he knew for a fact that her spirit was floating around. With the knowledge he gained from training in his coven and how he was the first to know she was comatose, she wouldn't have been surprised. If he did know, Paige didn't understand how he could be so damn selfish and keep it to himself. Even from Billie.

She didn't stop to think about it, but this was an early sign of rage that was taking her down the path of a vengeful spirit. The kind that Cameron was well within his ability to banish.

"I know you really don't think too much of me, Paige. I'd be too surprised if I was anywhere near your Top Eight actually, after all I've done. I threatened to kill Christy after using Billie to help find me my target, but I want you to know, I really had nothing but good intentions. Had I also followed the Code, there's a chance that I would've had Christy dead the second I wanted her to. I got sloppy and began to fall for Billie," Cameron admitted, retreating away from Paige's body as he leaned his back and foot against the wall. Arms folded, he continued, "Never would I have thought I could like her. She just seemed to have too much energy in her, the kind that would make me wanna kick her out the car for talking too damn much, but it's grown to be my favorite thing about her."

He looked to the same floor, as many people had before him, and then turned his gray eyes to the window. "She's changed..." He seemed to be looking right at her, maybe through her, but his eyes were in the right place. "Losing you now and Christy again for the umpteenth time – who, by the way, I swear, needs to have a map made in her name because she's forever lost – has changed her. That energy in her is gone and the passion she has is dying away. I can tell, she's starting to hate this life and is ready to throw in the towel. Things must've been simpler for her before that first time she figured out she could move things around the room. I'm sure she's missing those gossip wars and shopping or whatever it was she concerned herself with before she made her first potion."

Paige only stared, suspecting what Cameron's words were coming to. No matter how much he had protected Billie in the past, she feared Billie's judgement would prevent her from seeing what falling in love with an assassin who takes out those with threatening abilities would be like. For instance, Billie herself. This could all be a ruse. An attempt to get closer to Billie so he can make it short and sweet with a slit to her throat in her sleep.

Also unaware of this stage, a deepening sense of paranoia on events around her began to grow unto the wickedness of her spirit. The rate was slow, but the roots were growing faster than usual.

"I care a lot about Billie. I lead a life of death and I've never seen a girl radiate of so much damn, blinding, and somewhat annoying, light before. Like I said, it's everything about her that makes me..." Cameron stopped, inhaling a breath before continuing on. "Care a lot about her. If the situation every demanded, I would die for her. And I don't just mean dying the Phoenix-way and returning moments later, I would submit to my final breath for her. I don't know if it's because I haven't been around many other girls before, because I'll admit this to you – a great part of my life was lost to me when I was in a coma before. Mine's was cursed as well. I was tricked into living under assholes for parents while my real parents were psychically ignorant to it all, to even each other still living. That part of my life was a huge mess and ever since coming back, all I wanted to do was be able to protect myself so I engaged in this life."

Cameron kicked off the wall and just moved over to the window, staring out as Rose's external happenings outside the city, standing right beside Paige. Once again, almost as if he knew where she was. "I just began to hate who I was a bit after attempting to kill Christy. It's not so much targeting her that I had a problem with, it's what I did to Billie by doing so. I never want to put that hurt on her again and I'm damn lucky she forgave me this time around. I won't screw up again with her, Paige, I promise."

He turned to her still body, now taking on a mournful look upon his face. "And that's why I'm here. I'm sure if I hadn't been distracted that Billie remained untouched, even if she can take care of herself, I feel like I could've prevented this. I certainly could've prevented this. I'm looking into my resources to see if I can get someone to help you, but I'll always find myself tending more to Billie. You and Christy mean so much to her, so my goals are a bit split at the moment, but I'm racing equally towards both because I think that if I can save one of you, that one person could help us save the other. Not to mention, bringing one of you back into Billie's life would let her breathe a little easier."

He combed his hair with his hand, holding it in place as he reflected on a thought. "I swear, Paige, that girl feels as if every breath used where she didn't discover something new is a complete waste. Honestly, I've had to induce slumber into her with spells, potions, and this little neck-trick-thing I know." A grin surfaced and then went away. "I just want you to know, I have regrets for not taking better care of you. Luckily, Piper is alright. I just think Rose had it out for you and with Valen's magic inside her, those two think as one, so she must've mastered these powers easily. I wonder what she must've done to prep herself for these abilities, but I've already been researching a ritual to exorcise her and I'll drop Rose to the ground. With Billie's new magic, we can do this, but we'll need the help of everyone who can. Hopefully, this will be a fight to get your revenge against her."

Cameron didn't stop to realize just how alike he and Paige's vengeful spirits were; both were driven by revenge and would exercise their powers against all, even if they had avenged a fallen loved one or even themselves. "Just hang in there, Paige. Don't lose yourself." He glanced at the window one final time, before exploding into a mass of particles which moved towards the window in a cyclone-fashion and escaped through very tight creases out onto the world.

"_Don't lose yourself."_

"As if I ever really knew who I was to begin with," Paige mourned.

**(X)**

_**July 7th, 2007. **_

For the ninth time this week, Henry appeared without his kids just for an update with the doctor. Paige was tired of seeing Dr. Reeves' face already and figured the feeling must be mutual in the doctor's regard for Henry. "I assure you, Mr. Mitchell, we devote our time to your wife when we have doctors available. This is most unfortunate and we do in fact tend to her, but there are some more demanding cases at the moment. Comatose patients are mainly monitored and your wife hasn't been resting long enough for us to carry out some procedures for patients of a later stage." His pager went off, ringing obnoxiously through Paige's ears as those sound waves seemed to be stronger on her prison plane, and Dr. Reeves checked the screen and informed Henry, "I'm sorry, I must go." He urgently sped from the room, leaving Henry feeling rather dismissed.

Henry moved towards his wife, looking as exhausted, if not more than Billie. He sat down on the bed besides her leg, placing a hand that delivered warmth to Paige's spirit as usual. "Hey, Paige." He stared at her closed eyes, almost as if he thought it would be disrespectful to look around when he spoke to her. "I had to go back to work today, a parolee of mine got into some trouble and the boss thought I should use that as an excuse to get my mind off you. No new results there. I just want you to wake up already and then we can just rest together in our bed, in our home, with our children tucked between us and just live, you know." He reached inside a pocket of his leather jacket and withdrew a folded piece of paper. "Peter drew you another picture. He was in a rush, so it's only a bunch of lines, but it's a Picasso to us parents, right?" He unfolded the paper and Paige stood as ghostly as ever besides Henry, overlooking the piece. Paige was depicted as a stick figure against sand-colored construction paper and Peter had apparently run a white crayon over her originally black figure to resemble her paleness. He'd colored her eyes green and purple along with big scribbles of blue around her body. "He told me that he wants you to just orb home already."

Paige felt her spirit tearing apart, being pulled left and right, up to the heavens and down to the fiery pit, all at the thought of her son wanting her home. To think that someone who hadn't even been in her life for a year yet loved her so dearly made Paige reflect on the kind of person she must be. Downside was that anytime Paige tried to think about who she was, she would slowly lose some memory and be forced to forget something of herself.

"I'll be back sometime tomorrow morning, Paige. I got some paperwork I'll try and get done home, but if not, I'll just swing by and finish it here," he tried to stand up, but his legs resisted. "I should really go though, I left Coop and Billie back at the house with the kids. Or was it Leo?" He couldn't remember, the entire family had been taking shifts with watching the kids he lost track with a mind as dazed as his. He found the strength in his legs and kissed Paige on the forehead before walking to the door. With hopeful expectations, he silently waited by the door in case he heard Paige slightly move. As ever, she was still.

**(X)**

_**July 13th, 2007. **_

When Piper arrived the moment visiting hours started, she merely sat and just watched her baby half-sister all morning and into early afternoon. Her phone was off, not wanting to screw with the machines that were breathing for Paige, but her family had been fine when she left and knew she could be summoned with a spell that she left for emergency's sake. She had fidgeted with her purse, played with her phone, and shifted her seating positions throughout the hours, currently finding comfort with her leg folded over the other.

Like many times before as Paige observed, Piper seemed to be focused on getting something off her chest, but had trouble bringing herself to freeing the words from her heart. "God, Paige, if I'm ever going to say this, I need to say it now." Her leg slowly drifted down from her knee and both feet were planted on the floor as Piper kneeled over to Paige and held her hand, invoking the familiar warmth Paige had grown to cherish in her time as a spirit. "We've been looking so hard for you, sweetie, and there's been no results. I've summoned creatures of the community, bit my tongue as I spoke with Odin and another jerk of an Elder, and I called Mom and Grams to see if they've glimpsed you anywhere and no one can find you. Me and Phoebe have tried spell after spell from home and Phoebe is working on another spell right now, it should be done tonight. She's trying to be extra careful with the wording, but hopefully you can give me a sign already. Anything, Paige, anything to let me know you're alright. Touch my shoulder, a cry in the wind, _anything_."

Paige moved over to Piper and placed her ethereal hand on her shoulder, hoping Piper would feel that ghostly shiver and confirm contact between the divide. When Piper sat there, that same hopeful look on her face, Paige tried putting her other hand on Piper's shoulder and although both hands sunk in slightly through Piper's shoulder blades, she made no sign of knowing. Piper sheeted her forehead with her palm in sadness and just looked back at Paige, grabbing both her hands with such a pleading force. "You're starting to make me really desperate, Paige. I'm near willing to do just about anything to get you back to us. Sell my powers to the highest demonic bidder or something else that I'm aware is completely irresponsible because I can't keep sitting around, getting excited when the phone rings, thinking it's Henry calling to deliver the good news. I keep resisting the urge to blow up everything in the house because I don't wanna scare off my children, but I just have this need to get something off my chest."

Paige moved out from behind Piper, wanting to look in her tearing eyes as she said whatever she needed to say. She watched as Piper stopped again while she was blanketed in the warmth Piper was transferring through her, wishing her loved ones would just hold her at all hours.

"As much as it pains me to say this, I think that I needed something so severe like this to happen to really be sure that I wasn't faking how I felt, just because I needed to fill a space in my heart that Prue left. The way I've found myself lately could be nothing short of how much I love you, Paige. I really do and I'm sorry I never said it sooner, but I didn't want you to believe that I was only saying it so you could find comfort with our family – _your_ family – and I didn't want to fool myself either. For someone who was an only child, you really make a great sister, one that I wish grew up with me, Prue, and Phoebe. Phoebe alone was trouble, I can only imagine how much you would keep me and Prue on our toes."

Tears escaped Piper's hold, flowing down her face in small streams. While she sat there, feeling alone with her emotions, she had no idea just how much warmth she'd continue to shelter Paige's cold spirit with. "I accepted you quickly as a sister, that didn't take me long, it was just loving you. Over the years, I had doubts that my heart was just fooling me into believing I loved you so I would feel better, but who knows what morning I woke up and just realized, you are my baby sister and I do love you. You're just as much a Halliwell as any of us."

Piper let go of Paige's hand and rushed to her purse, reached in and pulled out a roll of parchment, the likes of which could've only fit inside Piper's large shoulder purse. She unrolled the sand-colored sheet where Paige could see brackets and names printed in black. "I felt bad that I had never jumped to update the family tree because I really do believe it gives a feel of how long our line has descended from and with all the effort you made to be super witch that year, your name should've been amongst the names of Warren witches." She grinned at the sleeping Witchlighter, still gently crying, and continued, "Your name, Henry's name, Peter, and the twins have all been added to the tree, deservedly so. I feel so selfish that I had pretty much ran to the attic to look for this damn thing when Wyatt was born, but as soon as I find out I have another sister, I just tried to get down to the meaning of it all. I never even bothered to update it 'cause I felt so guilt-ridden after that. I just wanted to believe that it was just a piece of paper."

She dropped the family tree to the floor, unconcerned with it once more, as she clung onto her sister's hand again and assured her, "I love you so much, Paige, and I need you to wake up for us all. Without you in the picture, everything has fallen apart. We can't function and that's because we can't count on the little things, like you orbing to the manor for food when Henry's burnt dinner or even when you just drop on in to tell us the latest drama of being a Witchlighter. Demons stopping by, I'll never want again, but there's no way I'll enjoy rest without think there might be a _chance_ that my baby sister is going to orb on it, needing advice on being a witch, Whitelighter, wife, and mother. Come back to us, sis."

Piper, like everyone else before had, waited on a response. She just bided her time, occupying herself with throwing away some flowers that looked ill, after not having been tended to properly. Hopefully Phoebe would be here soon with the spell that would pull Paige awake from her coma.

**(X)**

It was early evening when Phoebe finally appeared, wearing a grim yet hopeful look on her face as she entered through the door. Her and Piper consoled each other with a wordless hug, before Piper pulled herself away and held Phoebe by her wrists, "What do you think the chances are that this spell is going to work?"

The empathic sister could only shrug and said, "I don't know. I aimed to undo the curse, while not trying to call forth any additional magic but our own at the risk of breaking Billie's spell."

Piper let go of Phoebe, walking to the opposite side of the bed as Paige's spirit looked on at her own feet. "I think that we're never going to get any results if we keep worrying about Billie's protection over us. I say we get all the kids to Magic School, the guys as well, and we call forth every universal power within our reach and attempt to call the ones out of it."

"Are you sure? We know what we're risking by doing this," Phoebe lamented, looking over at Paige. "You have children who need you as well."

"I know they do, but our sister has children who need her too. I love my family just as much as she loves hers, so we have a duty to them. Call Billie, let her know in case we desperately need her to put up the shield again," Piper said, moving back over to the other side of her purse to retrieve a small notepad and pen. "I have a spell that's been floating around in my head all day."

Minutes later after Phoebe argued with Coop to respect her decision and Piper wrote one copy to her spell, the two joined hands over Paige's body as both sisters clasped a hand of Paige's. The spell was on top of Paige's chest and both leaned down to immediately read from it:

"_Powers above ours, Hear this call, _

_Awaken our sister from her cursed fall,_

_Obliterate the dark magic tainting her soul, _

_Reunite her spirit and body whole!"_

The two sisters looked to each other as winds howled above, but Paige's eyes remained closed. Piper quickly told Phoebe, "Again, but with the add-ons."

"_Powers above ours, Hear this call, _

_Awaken our sister from her cursed fall,_

_Obliterate the dark magic tainting her soul, _

_Reunite her spirit and body whole!_

_Free Paige from the shackles that bind,_

_While saving her from crossing the Great Divide,_

_May her spirit travel across the right lane, _

_As our sister journeys back onto this plane!_

The eerie echo of the two sisters came to a stop as the storm increased outside, calling forth Paige's unresponsive spirit with their lyrics of her soul possibly leaning near death. If their spell wasn't going to bring her back, they hoped they would at least keep her at bay, refusing to submit her to crossing over. Piper and Phoebe broke the hold, letting Paige's hands fall gently back beside her, and the two conscious sisters just moved to each other, embracing one another.

"We'll get her back, right?" Phoebe asked.

"Whatever it takes."

**(X)**

Piper and Phoebe left together an hour later, and Paige felt as if they deserted her, leaving her in an outrage. She'd attempted to punch walls, only seeming to go through them for a fraction of a second before it reappeared by her side. She swung her arm in a violent gesture, hoping the ethereal powers she should possess would shatter the window open and the wind would carry her back out onto the world, but no results. She was a powerless spirit, merely tempered and desolate whenever she was left alone.

Even though she wanted company, she would've preferred being on her lonesome when she saw a slithering shower of inky black and bruised purple orbs appear out of the air, composing together to ultimately construct her sinister opposite, Avo. The demonic-Darklighter hybrid walked over to Paige's sleeping body, the tail of his black trench coat sliding against the white floor, and he unsheathed a dagger with the half of blade shaped like a crescent moon. Intricate markings were engraved into the blade and it seemed to be moist with a black liquid.

He approached Paige as her spirit was terrified, screaming for him to stay away from her.

"I could kill you now, Paige, I want that to be made clear. I could've had Rose kill you as well, but it's been brought to my attention that killing you would only provoke more trouble than I care for right now," Avo mourned, placing the unique blade which dripped of Darklighter poison back into it's awkwardly-shaped sheath. "That time will unfortunately have to be when you're awake, as annoying as you were, I need your help in my approach to take down Rose."

He turned to Paige, staring directly at her spirit and in her amber eyes. "What do you say to that, my little specter?"

"You can see me?" Paige questioned, taking a step back. "How?"

"I know the curse I had Rose use on you and I know the ways around it," Avo replied, turning back to her body. "You don't seem to be looking too well."

"You son of a bitch, if you have any agenda on waking me up, it's only going to be your death sentence. I'll brew the best potions, write the ultimate spell, and put up the biggest fight, all in the name of vanquishing your ass!" Paige cried out.

Avo appeared bored, glancing to the window before staring at her again. "Feels good to let that out your system on someone who can actually hear you, doesn't it?"

She hated to admit it, but it did. "So you're coming here now so I can help you take down Rose. I'm assuming you're the one who gave her those powers and now what? She's become too much for you?"

"Precisely. You see, when I was missing in action for so long, I'd been prepping her to be able to withstand those powers, but to also allow her own mind to hold a dominance over Valen. It appears, Rose, as psychically strong as she was with her clairvoyance, wasn't enough to fully compete in a battle of the minds against Valen. Valen has way more of an influence over Rose then I like. I was also counting on the ways of the Old Age where demons would respect and bow down to those who have done them a favor; such as freeing someone from a prison of shadowed eternity. This was a respect some of us had in the Underworld before the chaos of Source after Source being vanquished by the likes of you and your sisters," Avo informed, approaching Paige with a couple of footsteps. "The Underworld has changed and while some love the disarray, I preferred when there was the control of one voice. Army after army would have clan leaders, but they all bow down to one. As I said, these are the ways of the Old Age and I try not to make sense of what's become of demonkind."

"So Valen or Rose or whatever, they're just in the way now? Sure seems like a waste of time on your end," Paige argued.

"Believe me, I know. I'll have to start over, I suppose. Problem is, Rose could defeat me with Valen's power in an embarrassing amount of short time. I haven't lived all these years so I could die by my own Frankenstein. I'll need you to play you part in getting Billie to perform the Ritual of the Spiritus Rector."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"I can't say the words aloud, it's too risky. Have your little protégé do some homework and should she look outside the box, she'll uncover it. I don't have all the time in the world right now, should Rose figure out I'm outside her sensing reach, she'll suspect the worst and I'll be begging to be turned to ashes," Avo admitted, finding this situation most unfortunate that he had to display such a weak side. "If you're ever to escape this prison plane, where none of your family will ever find you, you'll need my help, for some of the most challenging tasks in our world are for us to unite with the other side in order to reach a resolve."

"So you're going to work alongside good to save me? Wow, you must have such little confidence in your persuasion abilities. Much less than when you convinced Rose to join your side," Paige rebutted. "The wrong side, I might add."

"Just because she wasn't on your side, doesn't mean it was wrong. She was destined for Evil. Good would have _never_ suited her and if I had failed that day, dark forces would've found their way to her later on in the road. You failed because you were working against fate, now get over it."

"Like I'm supposed to trust you, but seeing as I'm not left with many options seeing as the universe is only allowing me to talk to you. Talk about the damn date from Hell," Paige remarked, earning a small snicker from her enemy. "Who exactly are you planning to tag team with you?"

"Someone who I'm sure is hard at work with helping you, but don't you worry about that. It's as you've said, I have a way with words," Avo said. "Now, this matter with the sorceress."

Paige shook her head side to side, thinking about what she could say to Billie. "She'll never go for it without Christy back. She'll let you die and I'm willing to let that happen. So..." Sure of herself, sure of the control she was in, she stopped shaking her head and remained still. "Where's Christy?"

"Cursed on the grounds you all left her on, acting as a slave to Valen's will. Rose enjoys putting her through the most disgusting of work though since you had orbed her true target away. If Billie wants to be able to live a free life, she'll want to play along because Rose has some terrible things planned for her." The demonic hybrid scoffed. "One even earned a shiver out of me. That little spell she has camouflaging all of you from Valen won't hold for long as a rift already broke, allowing me to find you here."

She decided not to share the event of the failed spell and quickly changed the topic. "So if you free me, we'll take down Rose, but this doesn't clean your plate. I'm not done with you," Paige threatened. "Everything you've put me through, it's had an impact on my family."

"Just as I wanted," Avo sneered, that same sinister grin marked across his face. "The perks of having you in a coma. I haven't been able to watch the show as I intended because of Billie's censorship, but I can just imagine all the crying and begging for you to come back."

"Shut your mouth."

He ignored her, pressing on with the urgency, "Don't think I can do this all on my own. You may have quite some time slaving in this plane before we can bring you back. I need you to find those spiritual powers and start making contact. It takes a lot of concentration, but I expect the best out of my Public Enemy Number One. If you disappoint, it'll only mean my death and your eternity on this plane. I'll at least be benefited with being put out of my misery." With a final smirk, he dissolved into those dark orbs, vanishing into the air.

Hope washed over Paige's spirit, as well as the despair of what would happen should she fail.

**(X)**

_**July 17th, 2007. **_

Nurse May seemed to have disappeared from being charged with her small duties of tending to Paige and in her place, was a young male nurse.The new nurse, known casually as Ronnie around the hospital, signified to Paige that the reality of time passing by her at the thought that May had moved on from her duties. Maybe this was something she could channel into accessing powers restricted to her kind. She turned again to the window, focusing her energy into shattering it and deemed it to be too large a task. She would have to start smaller.

Phoebe and Coop appeared just as Ronnie was carrying out a vase of near-dead flowers and the middle sister looked at him inquisitively, "Are you the new nurse for Paige?"

"Yeah, I'm Ronnie. I was told by Doctor Reeves that a relative or two may be dropping by today," the nurse replied, shaking both Phoebe's and Coop's hands.

"I'm Phoebe, her sister. And this is my hus-" Phoebe cut herself short, obviously stuck in the mind frame that her and Coop should've been married by now. "My fiancé, Coop."

"Good to meet you," Coop said, turning over to Paige's body. "How's she doing, you know?"

"She's stable and I looked over the chart the Doc presented to me and her body is faring well. There's a couple of regiments I'll be wanting to start soon, but I want to look over her history with Doctor Reeves first. I'm no doctor clearly, but I want to be able to answer any questions your family may have should the doctor be busy, so I'll be studying her closely," Ronnie replied, then held up the flowers and said, "I'm going to go and toss these now, though. You mind?"

"Not at all, go right ahead," Phoebe allowed. "I wanted some time with my sister alone anyway."

"No problem," Ronnie concluded, leaving the two with a final, "I'll be seeing you around then." The door closed behind him.

Phoebe turned to Coop and said, "Go. Try whatever cupid mojo you can."

"Phoebe, I don't think there's much I can do, it's just-"

"It's just _nothing_, Coop. You've been busy with your bow and arrow to come by and see my sister, the sister who's like this because she wanted me to have my perfect day with _you_. Everyone else can wait a week or two before they find their true love, have their first kiss, lose their virginity, or whatever. If Paige is floating around somewhere, she's not doing it peacefully," Phoebe argued, her temper striking clear. "Going back in time already failed, the same went with Billie's power, and my spell. Fine, I've made my peace that the curse won't allow us to try and prevent this from happening. It's stamped down in time, but maybe you can do something to break. Don't you parade around this whole 'Love can heal anything' motto?"

Coop looked hurt, almost as if Phoebe didn't believe in the essence of who he was. "Phoebe, it's not that simple. Love isn't simple. It took you years to find me and even then..." He stopped.

"Even then what? The Elders had to send you to me like a pity prize? And don't go making yourself look all arrogant that you're the man who finally captured my heart, truth or not, I'm not having it today. If you love me, you would exercise your powers to no end to make sure I'm happy and you haven't done a damn thing to see to that," Phoebe shouted, ruby in the face and appearing near aggressive. "Maybe it's a good thing we didn't have the wedding. Who knows if I would be able to trust your vows then when I can't even trust your love now."

"Can't trust my love, Phoebe? You know how it feels that the first person who really loves me is in love with me after seeking a committed relationship as hard as you did? It's a lot to live up to, especially for my own first relationship," Coop exclaimed, then stopped to look at the ring which blessed him with his abilities on his fingers. "You know how it feels to just be a Pinnochio of love? I have no background, no parents of my own to look back on. I'm a recycled spirit, shaped into an agent of love. You have to give me time to find some understanding in these ways. It doesn't come easy to me just because I'm good at what I do."

Phoebe took a deep breath, the rage in her calming down. "Are you going to do something or not, Coop?"

Coop walked over to Paige's body, waved his ring over her entirely and while his ring glowed a dim pink, he turned back to Phoebe with a blank look. "I can't get pass the blockage. This curse is far stronger than what you did to yourself all those past years, I can't just break that with my own magic. It's beyond my power."

She nodded, "I just have to try all my options. Spells haven't worked, going back in time failed, your magic has no results, and I think that leaves us with a very mortal option. I'll need your help though with this one."

Coop looked uneasy, unsure of whether he should forgive Phoebe so quickly for her questioning of his love for her, but realized she was hurt. Whether those feelings were true to the fullness or not, she was hurt and was at a point where she couldn't hurt alone. "What do you need from me?"

She walked over to him, picked up his hands and stepped closed to him. She leaned her head on his chest as they held hands in the tight space between them and said, "We have to go to where Paige's heart is." The cupid instantly realized where she was talking about and the two faded into a powerful pink light where their hearts glowed bolder and carried them away, leaving no sign they were there.

**(X)**

_**July 18th, 2007. **_

Success had briefed Paige a day earlier when she managed to destroy the vase, triggered by anger, but frustration blocked her from achieving the same results on the new and sturdier vase this afternoon. It was tougher to use these powers and Paige wondered if other spirits were far more desperate than her that they managed to wield the powers much easily or if her focus on these abilities made them less available to her because her mind should've been on the bigger meaning of her being a spirit.

Footsteps were heard outside and Paige recognized the familiar echo approaching, unaware she had been sensing with her spiritual abilities. It was Henry, but there was more than one presence approaching. They were small in size, from what she could sense, but large in importance to her.

The door opened and Henry paced slowly behind a twin-stroller, a white, yellow, and blue chariot for his and Paige's beautiful twin girls. They were only two of her children and she wondered where Peter was instantly, but found that very same thought split once she truly looked at her daughters. More light brown hair sat across the tops of their still small heads and while little Samantha was still asleep, her curious twin looked around the very white room, unsure of her surroundings.

Paige found herself floating towards them, attracted to them like magnets, and thought nothing of the spiritual upgrade. She just drifted towards them, stopping when she was right in front and she lowered down to the floor, barefoot. "My angels..." she whispered, feeling that blanket of warmth around her body without having to feel the physical contact. If Henry was to put their children in her sleeping arms, she would be deliriously lost with how warm she would be in this spiritual prison plane and might even possibly find comfort in staying there forever. It would be Utopia if Henry, Peter, and her sisters were added to the warm presence.

Henry rolled the stroller besides Paige's bed and parked them there, moving over to brush Paige's hair back. The warmth added on...

"Paige," Henry said. "I brought the girls to see you. Peter's downstairs with Piper, Phoebe, and the boys, but I just felt a little uncomfortable bringing him here. He's a smart kid, he might actually find hurt in seeing you like this whereas the girls are about to be two months, so we can expect them not to make much out of this. He just wants to see you really bad, so this is a chance I'm going to have to take."

Paige heard everything he said, but what struck out the most was the realization that her daughters were almost two months old. On the twenty-first of this month, they would be two months of age. And that would mean she's been in this place for already a month, missing half of their short-lived lives already. Anger and sorrow washed over her, diminishing the warmth her husband's touch and daughters' presences gave her, and leaving the ghostly shell of her spirit embraced in a deathly chill once more.

Henry continued, "I just thought that if you maybe saw them and if you were around, you'd be able to find some more reason to fight your way into waking up." He picked up Sarah, gently maneuvering her into his arms with a professional ease and bounced here side to side. When he saw Sarah's eyes take notice of Paige, he told his eldest daughter, "Yeah, that's Mommy."

Sarah's amber eyes glimmered before she howled the cry that Paige missed keeping her up at night, waking up her sister in the process like an alarm clock. Paige wondered if this was perhaps Sarah's way of asking her to wake up, just as Wyatt would cry his infant lungs out when he was left alone. Children of the Charmed Ones were a little too smart, a little too early.

The mortal placed Sarah back into the stroller, pushing both the girls back and forth in hopes of calming them down. It was seeming impossible as Sarah knew her mother was there and wanting her attention and it was possible that Samantha had sensed her with her Whitelighter abilities. No matter how smooth they moved back and forth, being alert to their mother's presence upset them far beyond than Henry anticipated.

Paige found herself feeding off the desperate wails of her children, adding to an appetite of powers and the hunger made her want to succeed. She didn't remember it all too well, but this was a snack of the hunger she tasted when she absorbed the Hollow and killed off Nomed's demonic buddy, eating away at his magic. She didn't want to frighten her children with an attempt to blow up the vase of flowers she never cared about, but she had to try something. Blowing up the machines could be fatal for her if they were truly keeping her together, but spirits had other powers. Their voices could exist in the wind if they needed to. Ghost cries, she remembered them to be.

"Henry," Paige said aloud, but he didn't hear. She kept repeating his name, but nothing. She felt the intense rush of channeling dimming down although the girls cried on and she lost all control when she saw Phoebe enter the room with Peter holding her hand. Seeing her foster son made her just as desperate to return into her body, but she was sealed off by the curse.

Phoebe looked at Henry and asked, "Why are the girls crying?"

"I picked up Sarah, she saw Paige, cried, woke up Samantha, and then she started crying I'm guessing because she was woken up and-"

"Or maybe she senses her mother in the room," Phoebe suggested, leading Peter further in from the door so he could see Paige lying on the bed. She made a mental note to suggest trying the Spirit Board again.

"Paigey?" Peter asked.

Paige just looked on, curious as to how Peter would handle this. He approached her body, taking a hold of her hand as he shook it. "Paigey, wake up." A combination of loving warmth and cold heartache tugged at Paige, not allowing her spirit to find a constant temperature. "Paigey, yous been sleeping forever. Wake up, sleepyhead."

The thought of forever returned to Paige. The Apocalypse could come to turn and she would still be chained to this plane, begging for an escape. Possibly even begging to haunt someone if it gave her some contact, assuming everyone wasn't wiped dead. The thought of Avo defeating her in death upset her as well. He was right that if it came down to their fatal ends, he would at least be able to cherish his final breath, despite whatever torture he may have gone through before. Paige on the other hand would be on her lonesome, stuck with other spirits cursed to this world and stepping amongst rubbish and cockroaches on the final days of the planet... And should the planet crumble, would she be shackled to space... But what if something happened to space? What would become of her then?

These thoughts floated through her mind, torturing her, and she declared, "I won't be stuck here long enough to figure that out."

"Henny, why won't she wake up?" Peter asked, looking over as he continued to tug at Paige.

Henry was attempting to drown out the cries, but to no success. He noticed Peter starting to cry and said, "We'll talk about it when we get home. Say bye to Paigey."

After a goodbye with tears, the girls still crying, Henry pushed the twins out of the room with Peter following foot. Phoebe cast a glance at her sister and said, "I thought bringing you the people you love the most would help. Paige, I'm running out of options here. If you can hear us, find a way to contact us. Please. We need to know that there is someone to save, alright?" She looked around the room, waiting for a sign, a whisper or anything, and as much as Paige tried, nothing resulted.

Downcast, just like every time she came here to fail, Phoebe left the room. Unsuccessful.

**(X)**

_**July 19th, 2007.**_

Armed with the Spirit Board on her lap, Piper sat besides Paige's body as Leo kept watch by the door. The Spirit Board was the first instrument they turned to the day after Paige first fell into a coma and was admitted to this hospital, but Leo advised they try again and with Phoebe bringing it up over the phone on the same day, Piper thought it had to be fate. Until everything seemed to be backfiring as it was now, so she decided to argue Leo's theory.

"How positive are you that Paige would really start showing the signs of a pissed spirit after nearly a month? If it was ever going to happen, it would be right now on the day she would be celebrating her daughters being two months old," Piper argued, frustrated that her plan to do this spiritual calling backfired. She looked about the room, "Come on, Paige, your beautiful, baby girls are growing up while you're sleeping away! Show me that this pisses you off!"

Paige just looked on, fatigued. Every time she touched the pointer on the flat, wooden surface, the curse of Valen's magic would weaken her, making her spirit feel aged and tired. When she initially tried, no results proved through and they certainly won't going to do so when her spirit felt so dotage. She would never achieve any results if she wore her spirit out, but she did have some colorful words on how intricate this curse was. Avo must've known her and her family well if he suspected they may turn to a spirit board.

"Piper, it's possible that Paige is resisting turning into the very evil you've been forced to banish on more than one occasion. That's something to admire, but maybe she has her own agenda. I only suggested that there's a chance she may have let herself fall under the influence of the abilities, only as a means to escape," Leo replied, too calm for Piper's liking. "This curse is pure dark magic and there's a chance it can only be countered by dark magic we won't have access to."

"How can we access it? What do we have to do? Kill Death?" Piper asked, up for anything.

"Death can't be killed. If Death dies, life ceases to exist. We can't have one without the other, but I don't know what dark powers to turn to, Piper. I was a Whitelighter for all those years, not a demon. I only know of this because I've come across an enchanted coma or two in my time," Leo explained, moving over to Piper. "We should get moving before someone comes in. We didn't exactly come by the mortal way and sign in."

"If someone walks in, I'll freeze them and the only thing that will happen is they might find themselves going to lunch a little later than they expected," Piper said, still rising to her feet. She knew the spirit board wasn't going to be any help if it failed for the past twenty minutes already. She looked over at Paige, a hopeful glint in her eye. "Um, a spell just came to mind. Every one counts." She handed Leo the board and held her hands over Paige.

"_Like a prisoner, this soul is chained, _

_Release her from this ghostly plane._"

Nothing happened. Piper's arms fell back to her side, wishing she could add more to her two-liner. She turned to Leo, another hopeful glint sparked in her eyes, and said, "Maybe I can think up a spell to help Paige gain some control over her powers."

"Try it, Piper, try it," Paige pleaded.

"It won't work if Paige is resisting though," Leo debated.

"But if she isn't, maybe this will help." Piper took a couple of moments, eyes closed and hands folded, and chanted the words to help Paige embrace these powers.

"_Stuck between life and death,_

_Without having cast her final breath,_

_Accelerate the gray powers in which she possess,_

_May she be of spirit finesse._"

For this time, Paige finally felt as if a spell had reached pass the barriers of her cursed plane, though she was unsure why. Maybe it was because all the other spells Piper and Phoebe attempted were made to free her from her coma. Just as the other spell prevented from her embracing death, this spell may just help her wield her spiritual abilities easier.

Piper looked around, waiting for a sign and even though Paige tried, nothing happened. "Another failed attempt." She turned to Leo, took ahold of his arm and said, "There's gotta be something we haven't tried."

"So what do you wanna do next?" Leo asked.

"I don't know, back to the Book, I guess," Piper said, well aware that there was nothing in there that offered available help. Just the idea of her looking through was a touch of comfort. She uttered a simple spell, which carried both her and husband away in a cyclone of small white lights, leaving Paige to focus on exercising her abilities with the trust that Piper's spell helped age them accordingly.

**(X)**

_**July 23rd, 2007. **_

Billie had just left the room with Henry, both having mortal responsibilities this evening such as tending to her server job at P3 and watching over his kids, respectively. As expressed, Billie found the whole idea of her even working at Piper's club a joke since she was too preoccupied with everything to have been there even more than ten times, but Henry advised that she would slow down with this magical rush as it was draining her of energy. Maybe some music and seeing people dancing would help relax her a bit. All of this had been impressively worded by Henry, almost as if he'd been touched by a muse. Instead, he'd been touched by his wife who was gaining control of crossing messages over her spiritual plane and placing inspiring thoughts into her husband's mind.

Whenever she tried to speak about how she was doing, she noticed there was a block and it appeared that's when the powers behind the curse would step in. If she acted innocently, only reaching out to her family through touch and planting a message into their minds only for it to come out their mouths, the dark powers didn't seem to care much. At least she could communicate to her family somehow.

The door opened and a face Paige wasn't counting on visiting her entered in a simple pressed whit shirt and khaki pants. Some dark streaks were evident beneath his aged gray hair, though the streaks kept a youth around Victor Bennett's face. He slowly walked over to Paige, sure he was alone as he glanced about the room, but then held a doubt if someone had been using magic to conceal themselves.

He tucked his hands into his pockets and casually asked, "So how's it going?"

Spirit Paige just watched on, unsure of his presence. Did Piper and Phoebe guilt him into visiting her? Honestly, she knew she could last without him. She had doubts that his touch could provide any warmth to her soul.

Victor looked around the room, "This is just ridiculous. Why am I speaking out loud? It's not as if you can hear me!" He chuckled awkwardly and said, "I'm not even sure why I'm here. I guess, it's just hearing my girls cry over you on the phone and when Piper dropped over to pick up the kids, she just collapsed. You must mean more to them than I thought."

Paige looked a bit offended. His comment made her jump to the paranoid thought of Piper and Phoebe never so much expressing their love over their younger half-sister to their father, making her feel like a true bastard child. She decided she would exercise her ability with a whisper into his mind in hopes he would express what he meant. She floated over to him and cast her hand on his shoulder, which he didn't recognize as a touch. "_Why wouldn't you think I mean more to them?_"

The whispered words traveled through Paige's spirit and journeyed successfully through the destination of Victor's mind. He shrugged, looking as if Paige had asked this question to his face, "I don't know, it just seems as if the girls would speak so little of you when we were around, but I've come to terms that I'm the one to blame. They just wanted to protect my feelings and make sure I didn't abandon this family again just because you filled a huge hole in their hearts when Prue left. They just wanted to make sure they didn't lose anyone else, because outside Leo, the boys, and this Coop character, me and you are the only ones that they care the most about; their father and their sister." He moved around the bed, standing beside her shoulders as he talked down to her face, carrying on with his original direction of thoughts. "It was always just so difficult for me to accept the idea of _you_. It's nothing against you, you didn't exactly have a say in being born, but I'm just a tired man who looks at you as Patty's daughter, but not mine. I'm sure I would've been honored if you were my fourth child, but I see you as a walking and breathing reminder of the reason that Patty and I separated."

"Just slap me in the face and get it over with," an offended Paige remarked. Did Victor even stop to consider the words coming out of his mouth? No, he didn't. He thought she was asleep.

Victor continued, "But there's so much that you've done for my family for me to not appreciate you wholly. You've saved my girls and helped them win a battle that's allowed them to just live free and I thank you for that. I sleep better alone because of that and that's all thanks to you." He looked out towards the window and said, "I just feel as if all this time I've spent resenting you, I've been missing out on really knowing an addition to a family we're all equally apart of. It's taken me a while, but I've learned to consider you as family as I should've instantly. I want Piper and Phoebe to be able to tell me stories about you, almost as much as I wanna hear what you think of my daughters."

He took a hold of her hand, awkward at first, but settled into the idea of touching her very being with his own comfort, apart from family gatherings where he would courteously hug her because he knew it would his daughters happy with his behavior around her. This was his choice and a reflection on the man he's struggled to be to her and Paige felt how truthful he felt as his touch instilled an unexpected warmth onto her.

"If you can hear me, Paige, which I hope you can because I'm not sure I'd have the courage to go through this all over again, I want you to know I'm not doing this only for Piper and Phoebe. I'm doing this for Patty as she is something we have in common. She's a woman that you will forever love, even if you find yourself separated from her. I want her to be proud on me as I know she must check in on me every now and again, even if Penny must push her away from the window...or however it is see can look down on us."

He let go of her hand and concluded, "I'm sorry for every cruel thought I have ever had or wanted to say. You deserve more than that." He walked around the bed and towards the door before stopping one last time. He looked at her with sadness, "Those girls need you more than I think they need me, Paige. Come back for them."

Victor left the room and Paige applauded how strong he must've been to accept who she is, obviously having fought with himself on countless occasions over the year on what her existence meant between him and Patty.

**(X)**

_**July 29th, 2007. **_

Still in a coma, Paige reflected on how she'd been titled as a Witchlighter for a year now. After nearly a year of saving people through careful words and her powers as weapons, she was still a victim who was now in need of saving. Her charge, Evelyn Wendell, the Oracle, had visited her with Billie and found no results for searching for Paige in the mystic world. She was off the map to all but Avo and Rose and it frightened her that her enemies were the only ones who knew where she was. She didn't want to wait a minute longer, she wanted to be saved now. She was furious with how much time was passing by her, her thirtieth birthday was coming up and while many women turning that age saw as something to avoid, Paige wanted to embrace it as tightly as she did her kids. Heaven forbid she could just wake up already and continue on with her life...

The door opened and Henry strolled in with one hand pocketed and the other dangling free. Behind him was an older man with light, sandy hair and gray streaks. His face was gentle, but slightly torn with wrinkles and he inched toward Paige slowly. "So this is your Sleeping Beauty, huh, Henry?"

"Yeah, Dad," Henry replied to his foster-father, Gregory Mitchell, the man Henry was proud to share a last name with. "Though it takes more than a kiss to wake her up." Gregory cast an awkward glance at him, before Henry added, "Or maybe that was Snow White. Or both. I don't know, I'll ask Paige when she wakes up."

"Or when the twins start watching all that," Gregory suggested.

"Paige will be awake long before the girls grow up knowing the ends to their favorite Disney princess movies," Henry said with a clear tone of certainty present in his voice.

Gregory approached Henry and laid his hand on his shoulder, "Son, I know this girl here must mean everything to you-"

"She does."

"I'm sure, but just because you want her to come out of this coma doesn't mean it's just going to happen. She's special to you, but to the rest of the world, she's just another Jane Doe coma patient who may or may not wake up," Gregory replied, never cushioning the blow. He always thought important time was wasted whenever someone would beat around the bush. "Have you considered this might hold some truth in it?"

"Don't give me that crap!" Henry exploded, slapping his foster father's hand away. He found himself victim to keeping suppressed around his children when all he wanted to do was scream to the heavens, shoot down all the stars, extinguish the fire in the sun, and kick the moon to a different universe. Gregory looked offended at how Henry chose to press him, but Henry didn't care. "That's my wife you're talking about and it's crap like this that I've avoided introducing her to you! You would be difficult with who she really is and if you can't accept who she is, you'll never accept my daughters for who they are, and if you can't accept my family, the only thing I can do is just remove myself from being a Mitchell."

"Henry, what in the hell are you talking about? You're breathing nonsense. I accepted your daughters _and_ your son just fine, they're great kids. Even as she sleeps, I accept your wife now before even meeting her because I trust that you love her for a reason," Gregory replied. "A multitude of reasons."

"Not this, this is different. This isn't her having a past drug trouble or guilty of three abortions, this is something way bigger than you can even begin to comprehend. You've lived more than half a century understanding how the world works and what Paige can do, it will blow everything up right in your face. You'll find yourself asking a thousand questions and hundreds of them won't have answers! I still find myself thinking up questions that I'll never ask because it makes it look as if I judge my wife and who she is!" Henry looked weak, almost ready to collapse to the floor and drift into his own state of energy deprived unconsciousness.

"Come out with, Henry. What are you talking about?"

Not being able to look Gregory in the face at the fear of his foster father looking at him as if he was insane, he looked at the resting, beautiful love of his life that would send him to psych ward in Gregory's eyes. Spoken softly, he replied, "She's a witch with a little bit of angel in her. And she's saved people before and in her own way, she saved me just by loving me. I've never felt alone with her around."

The two remained quiet for minutes on. Paige watched her husband proudly and felt warm waves being emitted from his own being where he stood and they empowered her greatly. Maybe it was a declaration of his love while confessing to his father a secret that wasn't his and was scared to share, but this was a high moment where Paige felt that Henry's courage couldn't express love for her like he did right now.

"Look, Henry, I can't make any sense of what you just told me. I can trust you, but I have no idea what any of it means. I just wanna ask you this: If you're so confident that your wife is going to return back to you and your kids, why is it that you're spilling your guts out right now? Why is it that you felt the need to _finally_ remember I'm a part of your family? Be honest to me and be honest to yourself."

Gregory looked at him intensely, in the same fashion he did when Henry found himself having problems in school or any other troubles he had while growing under Mitchell parentage as a teenager. Henry, even as a man of his own three children now, still found himself too cowardly to meet this gaze for more than a minute. As he answered, Henry looked up for a split of a second and finally admitted, "I'm scared my wife isn't going to come back to me."

**(X)**

Hours later, the sun fell and the moon ascended, accompanied with a sheet of stars barely visible because of the the city lights. The only difference from this room earlier was Gregory now absent, having had to catch his flight back home and Paige was more determined than ever to accomplish mastering her abilities. Henry doubted that she would come to, and somehow, that motivated her to get her act together and to work faster and longer. Paige reflected on how she had been feeding off of her family's faith in her being strong enough to recover that it would happen so naturally, but they were talking about Paige the fighter, the one who stumbled into her old family and fallen intensely in love with them so much, there wasn't any destination she'd think twice about orbing into to save them.

Henry was fast asleep in the chair, undisturbed by the doctors as they allowed the spouse of the patient to sleep along their partner, since Paige was still in an early stage of comatose. Eventually, it got to a point where the doctors found it inappropriate for a spouse to sleep side-by-side their unconscious lover after a couple of years.

Paige was going to make sure that the two would be in their own bed at home soon enough, but whether or not she would be sleeping anytime soon was another thing. She felt the power flowing through her, well aware it existed within her spirit, and while she couldn't access her own natural powers, she felt fairly equipped with this new arsenal. She just wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with them? Haunt Henry as he slept? Speak to him in his dreams, if she could even do that?

Paige looked to her sleeping self and whispered, "My body..." She floated over to her body and placed her hand over her heart, fighting her way through a near invisible shield which pulsed of electric black waves, emitting sparks which remained unseen to the living eye. Paige fought against the painful friction, finding this was the closest she had ever gotten to her body since all her past attempts to jump back in and she found that this must've been her trying to possess a body, except in this case, it was repossessing.

"Finally," the echo of a voice sounding through the room said as orbs descended down, depositing an unshaven Sam Wilder in a flannel shirt underneath a brown vest. He moved quickly, but silently, not seeming to disturb Henry at all, confusing Paige.

"I was going to say the same thing," another voice said as opposing orbs dropped into the room, revealing Avo. "Your daughter has a talent for snoozing her life away, I'll give her that." He spoke with insincerity, immediately waking up Henry and waving to him.

Henry was startled, withdrawing in his seat until he noticed Sam. "Sam, that's a demon!"

"A demon who is going to help bring Paige back, now just stay quiet. We have to concentrate," the Whitelighter firmly said, placing both hands over Paige, though his left hand was palm-side up.

"Yeah, it's taken your wife forever to find the strength. Hopefully the recruits the old man here will be enough to somewhat match my power or this won't work," Avo told Henry, but quickly placed his right hand on top Sam's left and slid the other underneath the Whitelighter's right.

The two counter-lighters closed their eyes as Sam's hands shone gold while Avo's glowed gray. They began to scan their hands all across Paige's body, bathing her in a sun-warm light that blazed her so much it hurt. She screamed in pain and closed her eyes as the light grew too bright and as she was ready to break the connection between her soul and body, a voice spoke out to her.

"Hold on, Paige, it'll be worth getting you back to your family."

The voice seemed familiar, but she had to put a face to it, so she braved the light and saw Keith, Peter's biological father who was gunned down by his old gang. He looked at rest, but appeared transparent as he hovered behind Sam, lending his assistance to the healing wave as his hands were outstretched, resonating of gold light. He quickly explained to her, "What you've done for my son is what brings me here right now...to this moment...so he doesn't have to live without you like me and Liberty."

Another voice appeared, recently familiar to her but was easy to pick out, even before the beautiful brunette appeared in the same fashion as Keith, transparent and with healing hands. "I was so stubborn to my abilities and wanted to fight who I was so bad, and you were right, Paige, the afterlife is amazing," Rebecca said, the Amish charge of hers who was destined to be a Witchlighter. "I accept my death and I'm privileged to be here, to do this one final act for you before I just rest."

Like a magnet, Paige found herself being vacuumed into her body, ushered in by the composite of gray and gold lights of Good and Evil's healing amalgamation. As Paige found herself falling back into place, she heard Keith whisper one last time before dispersing with Rebecca, "Thank you for treating my son as your own."

Then her mind, body and soul were one again. The lights stopped washing over her as she inhaled that promised breath when her body jolted forward, breaking free from a couple of cannulas in her veins. Henry pushed Sam aside as he gripped Paige in a tight hug, completely forgotten that he was less than a foot away from a demonic being who could decimate the three in the room while vulnerable. The machines besides them went off, signaling Avo and Sam to orb away to their respective locations or wherever they pleased, having successfully done their part. Over a month of time had passed by, leading to a year's worth of heartache, all to be healed by Paige's awakening.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **Hopefully the chapter was worth the wait, especially for those who knew this chapter was incoming for the past couple of years. Drop a comment, por favor.


	26. Reborn and Shivering

**A/Note: **So, this chapter is hard to love. It initially was supposed to exist, but then I condensed it into the next chapter when I decided to close the series early, then realized that the meaning of the chapter wasn't present enough in the new chapter so I decided to work this chapter in between **25 **and **27 **(which was once **26**). I just didn't have the right _mood_ to write this chapter and for that, it suffered. I know it will be no one's favorite, but just consider it as that set-up chapter as we have many battles and better writing coming up. Also, blame my eagerness to write the finale which I promise not to slack on, even it takes me a while to write.

*****Important Note: Due to a very unrealistic "one year old" Peter, his change is being switched to that of a three year old. It'll make it more believable, so consider Peter to be a three year old now – his third birthday was Chapter 14's "Patty's Protection". Revisions to the series will be corrected before the finale is posted.

At this point I would normally say, "Enjoy the chapter!" but I think I'll just end this ramble with a "Sorry for what you have to read, but if it's any consolation, it's a short chapter!"

**Chapter 26 – Reborn and Shivering**

_**July 31st, 2007. **_

The front door of the Mitchell-Matthews house was being swung shut by Paige as she screamed out one final, "See you soon!" She pressed the door closed and immediately locked it afterwards, inhaling a well earned deep breath of rain-scented air from outside with finally ushering her sisters out of the house. Paige leaned back against the door as Henry came out of the kitchen feeding a bottle to a cradled Samantha.

"It's before noon," Henry commented, looking down at Samantha as she sucked away at her bottle. "New record."

"They're just happy to have me back. I'm happy to have to me back and be in my body," Paige expressed, pushing herself up from the door and offered her arms out for Samantha. Henry passed her and the bottle over and Paige's arms drifted down slightly, still adjusting to her daughter's few extra pounds then she was used to pre-coma.

"And I'm happy to have you back too, I think they should just let you relax a bit," Henry suggested. "You're okay. The doctors let you go and you didn't suffer any bad-coma-brain stuff that keeps patients hospital-bound. We're chalking that up to magical coma, right?"

The Witchlighter nodded slightly, very focused on her daughter's amber eyes, the daughter who was still calm in her arms and not treating her like a stranger as Sarah was. "Correct-o mundo. Piper just wants to hide behind the excuse of making sure I'm eating and arranging future appointments for check ups and Phoebe is being Phoebe, meaning that she's trying to be the annoying sister who taps into my emotions and tells me that I'm not really alright."

"Are you not alright, Paige? I mean, talk to me if you're not. What happened was really traumatic, like, Godzilla attacking Japan traumatic." The husband kept a firm stance, waiting for Paige to unveil her emotions, the ones Phoebe was trying to hard to pick up on. "We're doing our whole Marriage 2.0 because we want to feel closer to one another, right? If not, let's save our money on a second wedding and just pay the mortgage."

Paige swayed Samantha left to right while humming the alphabet song, which Peter had been practicing since her magic-nap, but the tune itself always seemed to keep Samantha at ease; with the little girl almost finished with her bottle, it was smart to keep her calm before the storm of wanting more milk. "I don't want to talk about it just yet, Henry. There's not a whole lot _to_ talk about it. I was asleep and then I woke up. Nothing in between."

She sheepishly looked down after her lie, silently apologizing to him for doing so, it was just too much to discuss. Too much lay ahead, which she had to remind him, "There are just other places I have to devote my energies to. This is Day Two of my being home and I haven't meditated, I haven't studied, I haven't really sat down with Billie on where we're at with all this Valen business and that's just one of two fights I have ahead of me. Let's not rule out any other demon or Darklighter who wants a piece of me as well."

Paige walked past Henry, though he followed foot, and moved towards the kitchen where she would drop off the bottle that Samantha was near done with. She continued on, "Enough time has been robbed from us because of my Oscar-winning performance of Sleeping Beauty and I'm not going to cry about it so I can win an Emmy for Best Newcomer to Drama Award."

"Best _Newcomer_ to Drama, Paige?" Henry joked.

She looked over her shoulder and glared with her glance, "If I didn't have our baby in my arms, I'd hit you." They reached the kitchen and Paige leaned against the counter as Samantha finished the last sips of her bottle, still not looking drowsy. "I appreciate Piper, Phoebe, Leo, Coop, Billie, Cameron and a whole bunch of other names of people I love and like swinging by to see how I'm doing, but I'm alive and kicking, and I'm not trying to end up dead and still because we're forgetting about the war at hand."

"I just don't think it's normal," he simply protested, offering his arms out to relieve Paige of carrying their daughter for a while, but she declined with a nod, above content with Samantha close to her. "Not that your coma was normal, but nothing with you ever is, is it? Aren't there consequences when you keep things bottled up like an angry genie or something?"

Samantha finished her bottle during Henry's rant and Paige placed it down on the counter, then shifted the baby girl over her shoulder and soothingly rubbed circles into the back of her pale yellow shirt. "Okay, you really need to brush up on your magic-ness. Or watch _Aladdin_. You're not wrong, you just had an off analogy." Henry acted as if an arrow went through his heart, to which she grinned. "Bottling emotions are dangerous, they can set off your powers, but I don't have it in me to pour my heart out right now. Apart from the other obvious important things going on, we have a mortgage to get on top of before we don't have a house to live in after I win all these coming battles."

"You don't need to worry about the bills. We're not that deep under to not bounce back," Henry assured. "But if we don't, we can move in with Piper. I think I'm finally coming around to her."

Paige rolled her eyes at the doubt he expressed. "You're speaking about these bills like it's _Monopoly_. It's not going to be little plastic people coming to kick us out on the curb, it's going to be real cops – with real guns."

"They don't shoot you for not paying the bills."

"They did in this alternate universe that -" she stopped at Henry's confused look and decided to just bury the story of the parallel universe off-set by Gideon's actions. "Never mind. I just need to focus on earning my keep and since I can't charge people the billions they owe me for preventing apocalypse after apocalypse and big demon after bigger demon, I gotta figure it out."

"Okay," a defeated Henry said. "I won't push you. I'm gonna run up and check on Sarah and Peter. Want me to take Sammie up?"

"Yeah, I should probably go speak with Billie about tactic and such," she replied, then tried to hand Samantha off to her father but the child resisted with a soft cry that halted when Paige kept her close. "Or maybe I'll just hold her for a little longer."

Henry smiled, not offended and took off upstairs. Paige looked down into Samantha's eyes again and feigned a frown, "So you missed me, huh?" As tears surfaced around her eyes, she congratulated herself on the premonition of her crying when she decided against mascara this morning. She held onto Samantha's head with her open palm, brushing her daughter's hair up and down. "I'm never going anywhere again, I'm never leaving you or Sarah or Petey or Daddy again. It was too..."

When the tear sped down Paige's cheek and onto Samantha's forehead, she cut her speech and realized she almost confessed all her fears and anger to her three month old daughter who could offer no words of comfort in return, but would still be appreciated for loving her back. But Paige needed more now.

Despite being the Whitelighter who always carried the words of wisdom to her charges, Paige needed to be guided herself. She resisted all incoming tears with a deep breath and strong resolve, only wanting to cry her heart out just once and be done with the shadows of this cursed coma.

"Let's go bring you upstairs, Sammie..."

**(X)**

With the gentlemanly assistance of her husband, Paige slid into her garden green jacket and turned around to face Henry. He was in need of a good shave, she thought, but left it alone since she was pretty undisturbed by it; in another day or so, she'd let him know the growing Brad Pitt beard was near unprofessional. Where she was about to go, what she was about to say was a betrayal to their marriage, but this was needed for her.

Paige couldn't move forward as a "We" if she couldn't be honest as an "I".

"Bring an umbrella, Paige," he suggested, turning towards the window where the unearthly storm continued to rage outside for close to a month's timing now. "I'm surprised we haven't had to build an Ark yet."

"Yeah, Valen's presence close to our plane brings forth a storm of the century, kinda," Paige explained, looking around Henry's body to peek out the window herself. "The rain keeps piling on, the sky stays gray when the sun's up, and somewhere out there, cats and kittens of all races are _meow_-ing their little cute, angry heads off for getting wet."

Henry grinned and walked off to the umbrella stand by the front door and pulled an umbrella out of considerate fashion for his wife; the time they had together wasn't exactly long, but it was enough to pick up the emerald green umbrella to go with the style of her jacket. "Here ye go, fine lady." He bowed and made a flourish with the umbrella for the hand-off, to which Paige playfully grabbed at the ends of her jacket and bowed slightly herself as if she was holding the tail of a dress.

"Why thank you," Paige replied in an eighteenth century tone. She rolled her eyes back into reality and said, "I don't expect to be out long. I just really need to walk in the rain, maybe sit down in the park and concentrate on everything happening around me. You'll be okay with the kids? Billie's in the basement if-"

"I can handle these three," Henry reminded. While Billie was off training and studying and the rest of the family had their own children to take care of, he'd grown used to watching all three children for large periods of time. "Peter's the troublemaker though, I'll tell you that. I have my eye on him."

"You do that, Henry," she responded with a smile, planted a quick kiss on his lips and walked out the house, closing the door behind her. She pulled out her cell phone, went through her contacts as the wind blew rain into her and the phone's screen and selected the person she wished to call.

After a couple of rings, the male voice answered, "Comin' over now?"

"Yeah," Paige replied back into her phone. "Is she gone?"

"The coast is clear, which is..."

Paige suddenly orbed out from underneath the awning of her deck and into the living room of another, directly across from Glenn who still had the phone to his ear and was talking.

"...more than I can say for San Fran-" Glenn cut himself short as Paige materialized three feet away from him and hung up the phone. Not wanting to overwhelm her when she woke up, he hadn't gone to see her but did call several times throughout the morning, afternoon and evenings. "Noogie. Hey."

Already battling back the oceans of tears that would compete against Valen's storm outside, Paige dropped her own phone to the floor and practically jumped into Glenn with her arms around his neck. Glenn embraced her fiercely, tearing up himself. The first loves just stood their for minutes, familiar in one another's arms.

**(X)**

When the _Hugfest _was over, as Glenn had called it, the two sat down in the circular table in the small kitchen of the apartment. Glenn eased into everything with small talk, in which he learned about why this storm was happening, and replied, "It's for the best, I suppose. Jess and I can't exactly go on our next adventure across the world anyhow with the baby coming, so it makes it easier to know that we _can't _catch an easy flight out with all this."

"How are you feeling about that? Nervous about hanging up your Indiana Jones hat and lasso in exchange for a shirt to get drooled on and pacifiers?" The mother of three pointed at him and warned, "Keep a close eye on those pacifiers! They just crawl away from you and hide underneath couches, beds, and houses! Houses, too!"

Glenn laughed with a clap, "I'll Lo-Jack them when that time comes." Their laughs began to motor short and silence followed. "So, how are you doing P.C?" At her confused look, he explained with his boyish grin, "Post-coma. It sounds like your sisters have been helping you out a lot."

"I appreciate them being around, I do, but this talking-thing isn't how I've always been and yet they expect it of me all the time. I can't always just spit out my emotions on command, these things take time to hang out in my heart and head and try to realize what they mean and an hour after I woke up, I was already being hounded on everything I didn't want to talk about. I just wanted to breathe and hold everyone for a few, uncomplicated hours."

He nodded, understanding fully. "I remember whenever we used to fight, I would try and get you to come meet me somewhere to talk and you used to always respond that you wanted to but didn't know what to say. I used to think that it was just crap, but later figured out the pattern of you later pulling me to the side somewhere and having an idea of what you wanted to say. You just need time."

"What I need now is to speak to someone who isn't expecting me to cry on their shoulder. I can't talk to Henry, can't talk to my sisters, I almost confessed all my stuff on little Samantha because she wouldn't judge me and my conflicting feelings," Paige trailed off and bounced her shoulders. "Obviously not, since she wouldn't know what I'm saying, but that's besides the point."

"If you _want_ to speak with me, Paige, I won't judge you. If you don't, we have so much to catch up on anyway that I'm thankful to have the chance to. We can talk about-"

"I'm scared to lose the people that I now know love me." Paige's eyes fell down to the table, well aware that she was speaking to Glenn, but she didn't want to concentrate on any of his features or expression. She wanted to feel as if she was speaking to a really receptive wall. "I always had doubts about people caring about me as much as they say they do. Too often words are thrown around about how people care for one another and it just began to feel empty."

Paige thought of how often Phoebe would end a phone call with an, "Okay, love you. Talk to you soon." and would just hang up, almost as if the powerful words she had spoken were so casual.

She shook her head at the thought and continued, "The meaning of the words began to lose meaning, but I would always still use them because I feel as if other people didn't understand this the way I think I do. I do mean them, but I prefer to show them. And that's what my coma gave me. It allowed everyone to _show_ me they love me, some with words and others just by showing up."

Glenn looked confused and raised his hand like a first grader who was unsure of whether or not he knew the answer to the question, but was building the courage to answer. There seemed to be something more on the surface of someone just filling Paige in on her visitors. "Paige, do you remember anything?"

"Everything, Glenn." It was now Paige's turn to look like a child as she placed her hands on her lap and continued staring down, almost like a child who volunteered to answer a question and was completely off the mark. "I have never felt as if I mattered so much than I did when I was sleeping. I wanted to be awake so much so I could grow countless arms to hug each and everyone one of you forever, but beneath all my desperation, all I can think about is that there was a comfort to seeing people on my bedside. Faces I didn't even expect to be there..."

She thought of Victor, a man who wasn't her father or a fan of her existence, who spoke volumes of love for her because of what she meant to his girls. Love by association, but it was more than she could ever ask of him.

"There were the little things too, things I personally forgot about, but impacted others..." Paige choked back her words as she remembered Piper adding her name to the family tree, a once ordinary piece of parchment that gained its importance with the listing of generations dating backwards centuries and would continue forwards beyond centuries – and Paige's name, with the rest of her family, would be found somewhere in there.

"And in turn, it impacted me, Glenn. I've been marked special in the magical world because of all these prophecies – Charmed One, Witchlighter – but my footing in this world has never hit me the way it did when I was asleep. Saving the world is rewarding, but earning the love of my children and everyone else is so much more worth it." 

Paige got to her feet and leaned against the sink, stocked with dishes Glenn had neglected to do so far, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I have to make sure they're all safe when I'm out saving the world _again_."

"These fights you have coming up. They sound pretty out there. Like _Superman _vs. _Doomsday_ bad. You're coming out of these, right? I mean, you didn't just wake up to die," Glenn voiced, unsure of where Paige's head was with her misleading tone. She couldn't be ready to die, could she?

"Of course I'm coming out alive," Paige looked up at him and stared at one of the people who cared the most for her. "Avo, my bad guy, my _Doomsday_, told me that he wanted me to feel disconnected from the world, from my family. He has no idea how much of a push he just gave me, how determined I am now to destroy anything that comes between me and the people who love me."

Tears finally fell down her cheeks and she choked on her voice, fighting to be audible, "Him and I share a common enemy, so she's going first, but she's gone afterwards. I'm going to find the weapon that's hidden from me and I'm going to put it through his sadistic, black heart. Then we'll be free of him and all the harm he's caused on us." She stood still as Glenn got up and hugged her, running his hand through her dark hair as he kept her close; this was nothing intimate, solely affectionate.

"You'll win, Paige. You have a heart that always carries you forward and attracts nothing but the best people towards you," Glenn explained and added, "Well, apart from the beasties you battle weekly, but they're just asking to die. If I was a demon, I'd stay the hell out of your way and hide in, well, Hell."

"Well, the demons are not nearly as smart or funny as you," Paige replied, still in his arms with her head on his shoulder, a height she could reach because of her heeled boots. "It was way easier telling you all of this then Henry. I love him, truly, but there was something he said on the last night of my coma. It was almost as if he was giving up hope. I know he said it out of fear, but still."

"You don't like the idea of life moving on without you?" Glenn asked.

"In a sense, yeah." Paige replied. "I know it's ridiculous to think he has no rights to those emotions, especially having to be a single parent for a long month and in need of help, but there was nothing I could do and I'm not sure if I can make him understand that."

"If you were to die, God forbid, what would you want of him?" Glenn asked as he backed a step away from her. "Would you want him to never find love again?"

"Of course," she instantly replied, but moments later admitted a forbidden thought she hated speaking aloud, "I think."

"When you lost Kyle, you didn't lose love, right? You pushed forward and found that secure and warm feeling again," Glenn reminded. "It wouldn't be fair to either of you to rule out love in another should it come around just because one of you passed, would it? Jessica and I already promised to keep our hearts open should she pass or should I inevitably fall off one of these mountains." He grinned. "As long as you hold the memory of that person with you, there's no real betrayal."

"How did this turn around into this?" Paige asked, confused. "I thought this was about me and my very, very bad husband who almost gave up on me!" She didn't mean the words, of course, made clearer by her rambling tone that Glenn recognized too well, but he knew she was at a loss. This is what brought her here.

"I think it has something to do with not knowing what lies ahead and the consequences of it. Maybe it has something to do with power and how much you have and how you can use it to protect your loved ones," Glenn suggested, then the two looked out the window as successive claps of lightning flashed under a thunder-roaring dark sky. "I think these are all possible, but they're all connected by the root of what you've always been looking for."

"Myself," she softly responded.

"Ten points for Noogie," he replied with a smile. "You now know how much you matter, although I'm sorry we all sucked at making it clear to you when you were wide awake. You're getting closer to your answer, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but I'm a little terrified of who I'm going to find. I know it's not going to be something simple, I feel a connection to things other people are blind to. I feel the danger behind this storm," Paige walked over to the window and just stared outside. Cars were splashing puddles into unsuspecting civilians, cans of soda and other objects of garbage were floating besides the curbs, and she couldn't see the top of anyone's heads as they were all hidden under colorful, sturdy umbrellas that battled back the winds.

The Witchlighter shifted away from the window and spoke her honest thoughts to the man across from her, "I'm going to have to fight like never before. There's a chance that Henry might have to find love again, find someone else to look over my children the way I parent my little Peter. Even if I don't live long enough to find out who I am and die over the next couple of nights, will you all still love me for who I was?"

**(X)**

The sorceress in the basement unleashed a series of well paced punches against the punching bag that hung from the ceiling, building muscle that will help her defend herself in physical combat should her power be rendered useless in her battle against Rose. Her and Cameron had already exercised their way through the morning with sword dueling and Billie practiced projecting weapons into existence and even summoning some from other planes. Who knew what she would need against an army of this Hell-Queen, but she had to explore many avenues of combat if she was going to come out alive.

As her knuckles began to bleed, she continued the undeserving fury against the punching bag and pitied its reason for existence - she'd hate to have been born to get knocked around for hours and on – but she couldn't stop solely on pain alone, she was bound to experience a lot of it in the battle. She pressed on, punch after punch after punch, but when she swung her next punch, she hit nothing except air.

Rain fell down on her, the wind was freezing her heated, sweating body, and the lightning-lit sky above her confirmed that she was outside and it wasn't just a sudden fracture in the house. She looked around and saw that she was on the black-colored rooftop of the manor she was just inside of, wondering how she was teleported up there. She spun around back and forth for the source as the rain forced her blonde hair onto her forehead and washed the blood off her hands, but not the open wounds of her knuckles.

"It's going to take a lot more to beat her," a familiar Spanish-accented voice informed.

Billie flipped around and saw Rose manifesting into visibility under the rain, unfazed by the rain and remained dry. "Don't you mean it's going to take a lot more to beat _you_?"

The projection shook her head back and forth, "I wish. I've lost this battle against Valen. As soon as I return to my body, I won't even be her personal bitch anymore. I'll be buried so deep inside my mind I'll be lucky to get her to let me scratch my own itch. Not that my body itches any longer." She looked out at the city beyond her, looking as she was before she chose to be the vessel for Valen. Her olive skin was untouched, her eyes were dark and not sapphire, and her hair was black and not badger-streaked. "To be honest, my body feels more like a corpse now with two arguing voices in it."

"What's it to me? I don't necessarily want you dead as you do me, but I_ need_ you dead if you're going to attack my family. As soon as I'm ready, I'm gonna take the fight to you and-"

"You'll die against Valen and the world will lose," Rose interrupted, staring only at Billie and walked closer to her. In this projection form, she couldn't be touched nor touch. "You're running out of time as well. Valen has been building back some of her old power, power you won't be able to match. Seven moons from tonight, she'll be unstoppable." She moved around the rooftop, somewhat relieved to be free of her own body and out in the world. "The more Valen pushed me into my mind, the more of her thoughts I could hear. You have the potential to stage a fight against her, she knows this. I won't go so far to say she's scared of you, but there have been others like you that she's killed. I think this is why she still considers you insignificant."

"I don't trust you. At all," Billie replied, honestly. She's been naïve before and there was nothing convincing that Rose was saying now. As nice as it would be to believe she could put an end to this storm and ensure safety for her friends and family, this was from the enemy herself. "Go whisper in someone else's ear."

"You don't listen to me and you'll die. You don't have to be like me, you idiot bitch, making bad choices and in the end losing," an angered Rose responded, her open hands clenching into fists that she wish she could use to punch Billie off the rooftop with. "I thought that if I did all of Avo's exercises, I'd be strong enough to share my body with a Queen of demons. A god amongst Hell. And like my mother, I was _raped_ by a demon and lost all control. This is my final stand. When I'm sucked back into my – what _used_ to be my body, it's going to be Valen behind the wheel with me in the trunk, bound and gagged. If you can _kill_ the bitch, I might get another chance at _life_ again. Maybe not this one, but eventually. I don't want to go to Hell with her. Believe _that_."

Billie considered her. This made sense with Rose's background, with how she was always fueled into the bad neighborhoods in the world because of how personal she took her mother's rape, the reason she was born. She wasn't expecting on Valen violating the very body that was conceived by her victimized mother. Billie held onto her own body, shivering under the freezing rain, and said, "Assuming I can trust you, what do you want me to do? What can I do differently? How can I kill her? I can always try and banish her again, but I'm sure you'll be stuck in that grave for an eternity as well..."

"What you'll expect to be an eternity will just be another few hundred years before someone else frees her. She needs to die, and to do this, you'll need a ritual that can only be found in a place not of our own," Rose replied cryptically. "The Ritual of the Spiritus Rector."

"Where can I find this? What's this place that's not of our own?" Billie asked quickly, noticing that Rose was slowly beginning to fade away. "Where?"

"She's pulling me back," Rose said sadly, realizing her fate. "I can't say, she's managing to stop me from afar. She's powerful. She may control me now, but this was going to happen eventually. At least _I_ decide my own death. But Billie?"

"Yeah?" Billie asked as only Rose from the shoulders up was visible.

"If I'm so lucky to be recycled into this world, you better be ready for our showdown, pendeja." The demonic witch muttered her final words before vanishing from sight, to be buried into the grave of her mind while the Hell-Queen Valen paraded around in what was once her flesh.

While Rose may be left out of the battle, she was responsible for the hope now instilled inside Billie.

**(X)**

After spending another hour or so at Glenn's apartment, Paige moved to leave but not before the two promised to find more time to contact one another, especially with all the changes occurring in their lives. She still wasn't ready to go home and had to meet with one more person before returning to her family. She orbed herself atop the Golden Gate Bridge and resisted against the winds that pushed at her. The rain pounded against the top of her umbrella, but she was still soaked so high up with the gale pressing the water into her.

She looked over carefully at the caution on the bridge with cars moving slowly, terrified they'll move too fast and wheel out of control into the bay below. She was shivering and wished that she could go home and flip on her campfire when she got home, but it was still magically enchanted to provide cool air since that Prankster made her house into a playground. Paige shrugged off the thought as she remembered the city at the flash of lightning and pictured Rose grinning somewhere at the power her combined presence with Valen wreaked.

Paige closed her eyes as she pictured a young male, willing him to hear her inner cries, knowing they sung of anguished sounds as her talk with Glenn didn't exactly heal her internal wounds. "Come to me," she whispered into the air. "Please." She opened her eyes in time to see orbs appearing in between heavy raindrops and the sight of the young male forming between them caused Paige to relinquish her firm control on the umbrella and a Valen-enchanted gale pulled it out of her hand and into the chaos of the city below...

The male finished materializing, still looking as fresh as she last saw him in her coma, with his tousled brown hair that was being pounded flat by the rain, but he was still pure, and not the zombie that he should've been since he was last belabored with bullets. His light eyes looked out over at the umbrella flipping inside and out by the winds as it journeyed into darkness and Keith asked, "How are we gonna stay dry now?"

The Witchlighter moved over to him and hugged him and he her. "Thank you for saving me..." She cried on his shoulders and backed away into the face of the man that Peter would grow up to look like. She was going to fight to be alive to see this. "You helped bring me back to my family. To _your_ family. To Peter who cried for me to come back."

"Which was more than enough for me to help Sam and that Rebecca girl. I would've helped regardless of being asked, but when I saw Sam searching for candidates to help in your awakening, I knew I had to be a part of that," Keith replied, holding onto her wrists to keep them both steady. "I saw the smile it put on Peter's face and it reminded me of this time when I bought him this bear, Captain Ted, for his first birthday."

"I never knew about that," Paige commented. "Then again, we haven't exactly pen-paled since your death and we weren't best friends before that."

"Yeah, well, Captain Ted was short-lived anyway. Peter wouldn't even remember him. Liberty and I had to flee our apartment and the good Captain was left behind," Keith explained. "Peter cried for about a week before forgetting about the bear." He gazed at Paige with innocent, pure eyes and said, "We may not know each other too well, but at least we know we're on the same side and that we both love Peter. You've taken care of my son in ways that I'm grateful my death provided for him."

"Don't say that," Paige replied. "You were a good father."

"Peter was growing up in terrible conditions. In your house, it's secure enough for him to know what a home is. My kid is safe and if I had to die for that to happen, then dead I'll stay," he looked down at his body and grinned. "As dead as a Whitelighter can be, at least."

"A Whitelighter, exactly. A guardian. Someone others count on and you're someone I'm gonna call on now," Paige began, slipping out of his grip and grabbed his hands with her own before they fell back to his side. "I need you to watch over my family, most importantly, my children, and that son of yours that we share. You know what's going on, you know the demonic power behind this storm and the man leading her. There's no guarantee that I'm going to come out alive despite how determined I am, but I need to know that the children are safe. No matter where I hide them, be it Magic School or some hidden pocket realm, I want you to watch them. You're the only angel in the Heavens that I would ask to do this for me."

Keith nodded, a honest nod that spoke depths of truth and a desire to fiercely protect his own son as equal as Peter's new sisters. "I'll die again before anyone or anything can touch them."

Paige cried thankfully for the existence of the young man before her who would carry out this mission better than any enchantment, better than any protection that a Wiccaning could provide, and better than any foul Elder in the Heavens. "Now I just have to figure how to get out of this alive."

"You're not going to call on the Elders to assist?" Keith asked. "The community?"

"If the Elders don't appear for this fight, this goes to show how unholy they really are. I shouldn't have to ask them to help save the world," Paige sternly replied, hoping the so known Wise Ones heard her. "As for the community, pitting them against Rose is nothing short of sacrificing them. I'll need to learn more of Avo's personal army though and if it extends beyond middle-level demons and Darklighters."

"Whatever it is, know that your kids are safe and I'll do my best to watch over Henry as well. He's an amazing man and you two together are heroes. You each save very different sides of the world, but without you two alive, a change for the worse would be noticed," Keith honestly spoke of the two. "I couldn't think of anyone better to take care of Petey." He planted a kiss on Paige's forehead, a gesture of thanks, and took a step back. He looked out into the city and then up into the dark sky. "The bosses are calling me. Do you want me to pass along a message?"

"Yeah. Let them know that if they aren't in the Underworld when we take Rose and her army on, I'll personally drag them all to Hell one by one," she threatened with a glare directed at the clouds above. She returned her teary, misted vision to Keith and said, "You should head on up. I can't have my children's guardian angel getting fired with these battles around the corner."

"Be safe, Paige," Keith responded and with an almost sad smile, he added, "I can't have another of my son's mothers dying on him. Not again." He glowed under the dark sky in heavenly orbs, then vanished to up above.

Paige cast one more glance down at city and promised, "I'll stop this before it gets worse." Orbs appeared around her, dancing around their caller, and flew into her and gathered into one collective orb large enough to carry her home to the children who would now be safe and the husband she would now speak her heart to - not all, but enough to remind him that she loves him as well as remind herself why she does so.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **Yeah, the so-so chapter is done. Paige's coma is still touched upon in the coming chapters, but in the fashion that it would've been done on an actual episode; other things going on, but a main factor isn't forgotten. Hopefully you'll still wanna share a couple of words in a review and return for the final three/four action-packed and emotion-heavy chapters. We're coming to a close after three years! See how it ends.


	27. All The Right Moves

**A/Note: **So, one of the final chapters here. This is pretty two-parter with the next one, which may or may not premiere so soon after this one has since the last, but know that the finale is underway. Also, the next chapter is about 30, 32 pages. Big, big fight. Not LotR big, but pretty big. As for the title of this song, it both makes sense and is a song that has been really inspiring the mood for the finale. Check it out, it's by One Republic. You may now read and then kindly review, please!

**Thanks to all my reviewers**: This story has reached 400 reviews, which is pretty amazing, so thanks a load, guys and gals!

**Chapter 27- All The Right Moves **

**Teaserline:** If Good and Evil are both advancing, what's the outcome?

_**August 2nd, 2007**_

The night was screaming outside of the Mitchell-Matthews house as the navy sky was still, touched here and there with glistening stars to add some life to the obsidian canvas overhead, but roaring with unearthly growls of thunder. Nonetheless, the Witchlighter considered the sky to be one of life's greatest portraits, though tonight, the blinking stars peeking out from behind dark clouds went unnoticed by Paige as she had her back to the window in this midnight hour, officially thirty years of age. She watched her three children sound asleep inside their joint room, undisturbed and in full-on peace. In her three decades of life, the children she had managed to not completely screw up so far were her proudest accomplishment, especially since she never considered herself to be mother material.

She tightened the thin peach shawl over her shoulders and across her cleavage, her honey brown eyes bouncing back and forth between the three sleeping children. If she could've honestly had it her way, she would've preferred the task of only one child at this stage of her life as opposed to the challenge of three, but with the support of her family and friends to assist and the power to orb to be there in the instant she was needed, the kids managed to be just fine.

Ever since waking up from her cursed coma, Paige reflected on the impact her death would've made, as the only difference between her coma and passing away was that there was hope left in the hearts of those she loved and loved her back.

Just as she was about to become lost inside another whirlwind of the possibilities, Henry entered the room in a fitting black t-shirt with plaid boxers, assumably warm underneath the covers hanging from his shoulders as Paige was chilled at the moment, and said, "I never thought I'd say this after the coma, Paige, but..." he walked closer to her and hugged her to his chest. "Come to bed and let's get some rest."

Paige chuckled, "When I'm tired, I'll sleep, but there's too much traffic right now in my head." Henry pulled away from the hug and looked above her head, earning a playful, yet scalding look from his wife. "Not literally, Henry."

"I know, I know. You got to figure out the ritual to kill Valen who's inside Rose, then assist Billie in killing her," Henry drawled out in a comedic-dramatic tone. "I'm glad you devote your time to me and the kids though."

"The world is going to weather-hell out there on a weekly basis, but our home is safe. You're safe. Our kids are safe. My sisters and their families are safe. I have to say, it seems as if a demon really kept his word this time around. It seems like the only thing Avo is going to get out of this is being able to live. Until I get to him, at least," Paige assured, determination resounding clear in her gentle words. She hadn't told him about her encounter with Keith days before and kept quiet on the silent guardian angel she requested.

"So, birthday girl, I know of another activity we could busy our bed with if not sleep," Henry suggested, shifting topics as he didn't want Paige talking demons on her birthday.

"Real smooth," Paige replied, smirking. "It's almost as if there aren't _three_ sleeping kids in the room as you suggested sex."

Henry feigned amazement, jokingly taking offense to her comment. "Paige, we don't use s-e-x in front of the kids. Let's go to bed and practice your subtlety." He offered his hand out to Paige, who willingly took it.

"Why don't we discuss that after...?"

**(X)**

Paige stretched her arm out, aiming for her husband's chest, bare after their evening activities, and her arm fell flat to the mattress. Her eyes opened quicker than an eager hand rushing towards their window blinds to gaze outside, and she was so alert she saw past the drowsy spell placed upon everyone when just waking up and searched the room for her husband. Just like her birthday the year before, as well as every other day from Sunday to Saturday, she feared the worst of what happened to him. "Henry?"

She tried again and no answer.

This wasn't right. She knew he'd taken the day off from work today and even if he was with the kids in their room, he would've heard her. She threw the sheets off of her thin frame, running off out of the bedroom only in Henry's white T-shirt from the night before and small aqua shorts. Barefoot, she stampeded down the stairs in great anxiousness and immediately smelled fresh breakfast floating from the kitchen. She calmed down, recognizing the smell of Henry's omelets at work, and just took a seat at the bottom step.

Was this what her life was truly going to be like? The Charmed One who's destiny may never end due to her hybrid lineage and what the Elders (not that she cared for them) expected of her? Piper had been near demon free for over a year and whatever attention she attracted, it was because of the ancestral tome in her home and whatever battle Paige invited her into. The same went for Phoebe, apart from having a duel out in an alley as her powers returned to her.

"Why me?" Paige whispered so lightly, she nearly confused herself thinking that the thought never even vacated her head and flew off her lips. The stress of her heavenly responsibilities continued to wage war against everything she wanted to do, such as wake up next to her husband undisturbed from everything apart from children crying and alarm clocks telling them to go work, as well as to tend to those crying children and not having to put them down because a charge is risking incineration as they foolishly stumble into an alley. If her comeback to this living realm and her birthday taught her anything, it was how much she missed the simple times before she was the Witchlighter of this world, and hated how much it refused to let her be a wife and parent. And sister. And aunt. And friend. And most of all, a young woman with a life free of world-heavy responsibilities.

Magic owned too much of who she was and Paige felt as if she prepared to fight for the steering wheel, even if it lead to a fatal collision of accepting who she is.

Henry slightly jogged out the kitchen, immediately finding a deep-in-thought Paige sitting on the step. "You alright, Paige?"

She looked up at him, surprised. "How'd you know I was here?"

"It had to have been the kid-Christmas march you took down the steps," Henry replied, taking a seat down next to her. "Your presents aren't here yet, Birthday Girl. You alright?"

She nodded, taking a hold of his hand and felt some yolk from the omelet, but didn't care. "I was just nervous that something happened to you. You know, the usual thoughts I have waking up."

"I'm fine, the kids are fine. We're all just in the kitchen, starting on some lunch," Henry said, pulling her into a hug.

"Lunch? How long did I sleep?" Paige asked, not even remembering drifting away last night.

The mortal chuckled, "I think the moment we started touching on how to better your subtlety. I must've bored you. Either that, or your refusal to sleep through a full night because of your coma finally made you crash." He rose from the step, picking Paige up with him and said, "I was about to wake you though as Peter finished a whole omelet by himself, which was yours. I have a fresh one in the kitchen for you right now."

"Let me just go and get changed into something a little more fitting." She flapped the large shirt from its sides and added, "Something prettier as well."

"Good idea. Everyone should be here soon," Henry responded, glancing at his watch. "And, Paige, we're going to keep this party magic-lite, right?"

She held up her crossed fingers and a smirk surfaced. "I vowed to not do anything magic-y on my birthday, I'm aware of this. I might have to talk a couple of things out with Cameron and Billie, because you know, the world and Underworld depend on it. Not that I care much about demons, I have to hold my end of the bargain and eliminate this scary demonic power before Avo finds use for her."

"That is one hell of a fine print inside your contract," Henry joked. The doorbell then rang and with wide eyes, he urged Paige up the stairs. "Company's here."

"Tell them I'm putting my face on. Piper might blow you out your flesh for making her remember what a bathroom hog I was, but I'll piece you back together later!" Paige replied, jogging up the steps. "Promise!" The excitement of a gathering to distract her from prior thoughts was evident in her rapid ascent.

Henry watched Paige until she was out of sight, then moved towards the door as the outside rang the bell again. "Coming!" Henry shouted, a couple of feet from the door. He reached the lock, unlocked it, and opened the door to see a man with brown hair, some curls entwined the top, small eyes by comparison, and a thin scar through his right eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

The man tugged on his navy sweater, buried his hands inside his matching jeans and replied, "Hey, how's it going? I'm an old friend of Paige's. I'm going to take a stab that you're the Henry-fella Phoebe told me about."

Henry felt slightly nervous, unsure if this man was a demon in disguise, even at the mention of him knowing Phoebe. "Yeah, I'm him. Who are you?" he replied, edged.

"Calm down, man. No foul intended. I'm Richard. I'm just stopping by to give the birthday girl my best wishes. Mind if I come in?"

**(X)**

The chasm thousands of miles below their feet roared with a terrible inferno, echoed with haunting, agonized screams, and whistled with dark, ancient magic. This Underworld district was restricted to all but only the superior voices of the realm and whatever company they saw fit of bringing. The Head of Darklighters, who found himself more reputable the past few months with his work on unleashing Valen, had earned his spot here long ago. He found this place as a child, lured by its mystique, and learned of its magic with the tale from his father.

He carried those words with him to this day, and as he stood beside Reynold on the cliff overlooking this yawning mouth of the Underworld, he glared at his Whitelighter uniform, prepared to disgrace the Elders and gain another. "You've come far, Reynold. And proved useful in acquiring the book from the Heavens which mapped my defeat. I now present you an honor for your service."

"So by accepting, I'll no longer be a Whitelighter," Reynold asked.

"It's much more than that. You'll no longer be _weak_, you'll have power at your disposal. You'll be able to roam the world and inspire fear into those you target. I have special plans for you as well, you'll be much more than an ordinary Darklighter. You deserve so," Avo stood as close to the edge as possible, peering into the purple fire below him. "Had I been in your position, I would find this leap so breathtaking."

"It looks quite frightening."

"Fear of falling? Such a tiny scare. You'll gain courage when you emerge. They all do. Some more arrogance, others insight, but you will have a confidence and dedication about your new ways, all while spitting on those blinding gold robes of your soon to be former forefathers," Avo grinned, placing a powerful hand on Reynold's shoulder, making the Whitelighter quiver at the touch of a profound dark being. "I'll admit, killing Paige was a thought I held long ago, once I learned of her entering the Charmed trifold, but I let it be. I didn't believe her to be worthy of my attention, so I sent out the pawns to carry out my work. She proved worthy over the years, shaped into a deadly Witchlighter by her sisters and the idiotic demons who challenged her, but Rose is about to play her final role in helping me defeat Paige and I welcome the break in the Balance."

"_The_ Balance? The Ultimate Balance? The Scale of All?" Reynold asked. "It isn't to be tampered with. The laws aren't even to be challenged, not even by you, you know the risks!"

Avo removed his hand, straightened his jacket and grinned. "Give me credit, I've done my research. There's a loophole in the design, thankfully. One I discovered when I sought out Rose and realized if I was to claim a artifact important to our demonkind, I'd need the grandeur power of a demonic queen. There aren't that many laying about anymore with Hecate down in power and not fully recovering from her previous vanquish, it would've taken centuries to recruit her. Valen would have to do and that she will."

"What is it she's getting you?"

"You'll know after you take your Fall. You'll witness greatness, I promise you this. Greater than whatever light show the Elders put up whenever a _worthy_ soul accepts his angel-hood," Avo's eyes glowed black, striking terror into Reynold's tainted soul and he chorused the same words his father taught him in his tale of this place, "_He who descends shall spiral down deep, banishing his soul to exist no more, displacing oneself into a servant of the fire. Align thyself with the parallel of thy being and kill thy spirit. Just as ye shall twist and kill others._" His eyes diminished from their darkness, though were still respectively foul.

"A Spirit Killer?" Reynold asked, thinking of the times he had to save a charge from these dangerous opponents and their mental powers. "Me?"

"All Spirit Killers were once Whitelighters. Who else better to help guide a lost soul into that final plunge of death than someone who used to sing the words to save them? It is you who understands how souls can grow corrupt and that there is truth to the words of my kind. Just magnified to better work on our behalves. Do you accept, Reynold?"

Without taking much thought, he answered. "Yes."

"Don't tell _me_," Avo looked down into the chasm. "Show your commitment and leap." He pointed downwards. "Be the next falling angel."

Reynold almost stopped to pray, then remembered he was abandoning such Faith in the Holy. He now served a new master, proving this with a mountainous leap on down into the abyss. He felt the orbs burning off of him, being picked apart by a spectral of shadow who howled many things out him.

"_Make ashes of the old._"

"_Embrace your new being._"

"_Journey into greatness._"

"_Torch away the divine, scorch the Holy." _

The Whitelighter continued to descend, noticing ravenous faces in the fire, starving for something good to feed on. The orbs of a Whitelighter would certainly fulfill their appetite, before spitting them back out onto Reynold as his new shell. Until then, the Whitelighter would continue to fall and would rise later, anew.

And with this, the Balance slowly began to break in Evil's favor...

**(X)**

Paige jogged down the stairs quickly in black jeans with strapped heels, having had practice running in heels after all the years of demonic ambushes. She was a shameless professional. Her dark hair curtained the shoulders of her lime green v-neck top, jeweled along her sides. She spotted Henry sitting in the living room, just staring at someone. It was strange, considering just how well he got off with her sisters. Either way, she'd lighten the mood. She walked in with closed eyes, smiling, as her hands danced around introducing her presence, "Go ahead. Wish me a happy one."

"Happy Birthday," a male voice said, one she recognized but had to confirm by opening her eyes.

"Oh, my God. Richard!" She walked towards him with arms extended and he rose from the opposite couch of Henry, embracing her.

Henry watched uncomfortably, wishing he didn't feel so insecure over a guy who clearly wasn't good enough to win Paige over for the long run like he was. Just seeing that hug though, he could almost read the history between them.

The two parted and Paige smacked him in the chest, "Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you around anytime soon. How've you been?"

He nodded with a grin now unfamiliar to her, "Fine. Just working as a counselor for teens at this location inside town. It's pretty eye-opening work. Yourself? I've met the husband already..." he shifted quickly at an unhappy Henry and returned back to Paige. "Not the kids though."

"I actually left them in the kitchen," Henry shamefully admitted, too distracted by the threat of an old flare. "Sorry, I'm going to get back to them. Peter's too young to babysit for more than ten minutes, I think." He feigned a chuckle and moved towards his wife, kissing her on the forehead before leaving.

"I don't think he cares too much for the idea of me being here. I'm sorry, I should've called," Richard apologized, willing to leave at that moment. Even if that meant leaving without what he came for.

"Don't worry about him, he's just my protective, grizzly bear of a man. He tries to involve himself in any demon fight and considering I'm approaching a pretty huge one, he's a bit on the edge," Paige explained, then pat Richard on the shoulder. "It's really good to see you alive and well, living magic-free and seemingly proud of your work. Teens, huh?"

"Yeah, and it's a recently special one that made me realize how I feel about my life," Richard softly said.

"You wanna board the parent train now? Afraid I'm no longer available to help engineer that one," Paige joked, earning a slightly forced chuckle out of Richard.

"I miss magic. I really do, Paige. The power humming inside me, actively making potions for all means, the way a benign energy ball could grow inside my fist, and even the risk of making sure I knew which ingredients partnered well with the other," Richard replied, rather passionate. "I recently helped a fifteen year old boy embrace his magic, electrifying powers that terrified him. I guided him and he's okay now. It just got me to thinking back to everything I just told you and that all leads to this." He sighed and proceeded to ask the question that walked his feet to this house. "Please, can you trust in me to give me my powers back?"

**(X)**

Billie peaked over the stacks of books laid out on the table in the Magic School study room, gazing at Cameron who had his back to her as he leafed through a thick book on his own. Somewhere, inside one of these books, they were going to find the answer to defeating the demonic power inhabiting Rose. Whether or not she could be saved in the process was another story, but that was a road they were definitely going to have to roll through whenever they found the ritual.

"Which book do you have there?" She asked, already having glimpsed the cover, but she just shamefully wanted to hear his voice; when he was calm like he was now researching, his voice had a way of soothing her anxiousness away, bringing her to that relaxed stage he'd mastered leaving himself in.

He looked over to her, refusing to admit to himself just how glad he was that she broke the much needed silence with her question, especially since he believed her to have had an idea of what he was reading anyway when he picked the book from the top of her pile. "It's _Beyond the Black Gates,_ the second volume of the series in pretty damn good edition. Binding is the roughest, but it's kept all the information in one piece. So, while I've been educated on a couple rituals restricted only to the powers of the Source that future witches should keep a look out for, none of them are what we're looking for." He slammed the book close, expelling sprays of dust as he tossed the book onto the table.

"Some respect you're showing for that book there," she replied, then bounced up from her seat and held hers up. "I think I'm gaining some lead now with this book that Leo suggested."

"Which would be...?"

"Students aren't allowed to see it because of some of the rituals inside are too enticing and they are, I have to admit, but _The Spells of the Slow Hour _really hold your hand to the last detail. No cryptic funny stuff. They even give an estimated time on assembling all the necessities with suggestions on where to grab them," Billie held her page with her finger, then closed it to better eye the cover. An upside down pentagram adorned the upper left corner, made of leather, while buried inside some crimson wax. "Is this blood?"

Without looking directly, he asked, "Is there a listed author? Greyhorne, by any chance? Vack Greyhorne?"

Billie scanned the bottom and nodded. "How'd you know?"

"He was a traitorous demon in the early ages. Bad for them, awesome for us. He was a candidate for the Source's throne and he wasn't someone who liked being benched as the runner-up to wait until this Source was axed off. Skipping ahead, he rebelled, deciding that he would aid the Elders, witches, and any other champions with the resources in defeating demonkind," Cameron explained, sharing more of his demonic knowledge. Billie assumed he must've done really well training and studying when he was younger.

"So what? The demon got upset and decided to get _published_? Wow. Nothing smacks the bad guys in the face like literature," Billie replied, rolling her eyes.

"His name was inscribed later, after the book got in our hands and after he was sentenced to an eternity of hellfire with no means to escape. There's not a single ritual in there or spell to save Greyhorne, Rose with Valen's powers couldn't let him free if she wanted to. Evil would have to be diminished from the world completely and the Underworld couldn't even exist any longer," Cameron casually answered, clearly not caring much for everything this demon is _still_ going through and would forever go through, just so this book could end up in the right hands. "He's been locked up and they destroyed the key."

"In other words, he's never going to just reduce to ashes and fall into oblivion? Never going to see the Wasteland?"

"He'll reduce to ashes, maybe, but he'll just build right the hell back up and rinse and repeat. Anyhow, I doubt the ritual we're looking for is going to be in there, but if I remember right, there are some resources he left behind that might be worth checking into. I can't believe I forgot about his work, it's just there are plenty of demonic authors that I've read growing up, he just fell out of mind."

Billie began to thumb through the pages again, slightly frightened at the words she was hearing, then replied, "I'm not sure if it's scarier that you read literature by demons or that demons are actually sitting around in their Underworld corners, getting poetic revenge instead of determining the best way to kill people like me." She shrugged the thought off, stopping at a page bulleted in a difficult penmanship. "I think I found it."

The mercenary strolled over her way, leaning over her while managing to slyly brush her arm with his as he overlooked the list. He fought for dominance between his heart and mind, pushing aside the feelings he hadn't spoken to her and concentrated on the books titled below. "Hmm. _Crushing Ashes _seemed to be a possibility, but I think crumbled ashes are more appropriate for the standard heavy-hitting fire-laced traps. Not rituals. I have a copy in my collection, I'll check that out, but all of these here are lacking the necromancy ritual we need."

"Last time I checked, I'm still a sorceress, right? Can't I just build together my own ritual? Tailor it to our needs?" Billie questioned. "You don't want us using this Ritual of the Spiritus Rector that Rose suggested because you don't think we should trust her word alone, but..."

"I also think it's best if we stick to something pre-made that's gonna pack enough of a super punch to take Valen out. You're still new to this game, we need to find the old strategies, namely the Living Grave Ritual, left behind by some praised player to win this one. Killing her seems to be out of the question, but we can bury her back in her grave," he zippered up his dark gray jacket, comfortably warm inside the leather. "I'm going to head back to my place and grab a couple of things as well as check on if any of my guys have found anything. Rituals can be very complex and can easily bite us in the ass if we don't play it right "

She nodded, "I know, I know, Cam, we go in sure or we don't go in at all. I'm just sure Christy would know if we could somehow find her." Despite the Phoenix's protest, the thoughts of forging her own ritual still lingered in the sorceress' doubted head.

Cameron wasn't even sure if Christy was alive, but kept his silence. "Yeah, I'm sure she would. I'll be back, Billie." He vanished in his usual fashion, leaving his words only with her. And they stuck.

"Maybe I can't create a ritual good enough to kill Valen," she whispered gently, flipping close the pages of Greyhorne's book. She thought back to her ultimate power and considered something Cameron begged her not to do. "But I can project my spirit to Christy." Her sister _should_ know whether to trust this Spiritus Rector Ritual and where to find it. In turn, this would save them all.

**(X)**

Paige did her best to ignore Richard's request, saved by the doorbell when Piper and her family arrived with a feast for the ages to last them through another World War, she had exaggerated. Phoebe and Coop weren't too late behind and the middle sister teased how she and Coop should say their vows now and seal their love with a kiss while everyone was here and conscious, but Piper slapped both Phoebe's shoulder and the idea away. Today was Paige's day and that was how it was going to remain.

To the Witchlighter's surprise, Phoebe and Richard were in a corner chatting, and Paige approached a casually dressed Coop, reaching up to drop a hand on his shoulder. "Not jealous at all, are we?"

The cupid chuckled, "Right. Richard's heart beats for a woman at his job and Phoebe's heartbeat is reserved for me and me only. I've been reading hearts longer than words, Paige." He grinned as he cast a quick glance at Henry, "Though, I can tell you that Henry's a bit uncomfortable. And I understate just how uncomfortable."

Paige turned to the husband that her heart promised to be loyal to forever and knew that as time passed, Henry had only strengthened that lock of preserved love. She grinned at his discomfort, slightly okay with him being so protective of her that he was missing out on a good friend because it was in the name of their marriage. He trusted her, he just didn't trust the old flame returning as he expected him to try and throw some sticks into an old and forgotten campfire to re-ignite the former flare.

Henry just sat there with Samantha on his lap, watching and tickling her while occasionally bouncing his gaze to Richard to keep a watch on where his eyes were looking. Paige continued to grin at him as she asked Coop, "How do I tackle this one, Cupid?"

"I'm assuming you don't want me to toss out the speak-from-your-heart cliches, right?"

"Spare me," she joked.

"Henry will get over it, I don't doubt it. He's just a little intimidated that Richard was a man of magic and was able to tag along side for battle without you keeping him at home," Coop explained through the help of the glowing ring on his finger. Some of it was just plain obvious, heart-detecting ring or not.

"That's not true though!" She burst out louder than her preferred tone, gaining an audience of eyes that she playfully shooed off with her hand. Once they turned, she continued, "I left Richard behind as well. I didn't want him using the very essence that Henry's jealous of. So, no, I didn't encourage the use of his powers by making a power couple out of us." Paige shuddered at the idea of power couples, remembering Simon Mark's offer. Hopefully he was staying across the pond for good.

"Have you and Henry ever discussed this particular relationship?"

She nodded to the side, "Not to a full extent. Of course we shared our dating histories, but all I told him was that Richard was a magic-holic and that's what broke us apart. It was something he was glad to hear, but maybe since Richard is actually here right now, it bothers him again." She shrugged in self-wonder.

"Hey," Coop started with a boyish grin. "Kindly let me do my job in the future. If you start giving yourself love advice, I lose my role." The two laughed and she agreed. "May I give some advice before you run to Phoebe or give it yourself?" After a chuckle and a roll of Paige's eyes, he proceeded. "Maybe give Henry the magical tasting he's always been looking forward to. He once attempted a hair-transformation potion if I remember my details right and that was all in the name of showing you that if you _need _him in those circumstances, he'll have a footing to work off of."

Paige's lips curved to the side, once again in thought, and she replied, "I guess he could take a shot at spell-writing, he did write me a really nice poem once but that was under the inspiration of a muse. He then also sung me a song he was making up once, but that was under the influences of a _very_ drunk muse and it wasn't nearly as beautiful." The two laughed together and she bounced her shoulders, "Perhaps just another potion. Great advice, Cupid."

Coop relieved himself of a dramatic sigh and said, "Good, I can still find purpose around you Halliwells. Go me."

The Witchlighter pat him on the chest as she walked past and said, "Alright, I'm going to go give this a shot. I'm not sure how he's going to feel that there's some magic working its way into what was supposed to be a magic-lite birthday, but this is a cauldron that always bubbles and after a year, he should come to grips with that already." She delivered a final grateful smile towards Coop and floated over to her husband, placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering in his ear, "Psst. I need to borrow you for a few magical minutes."

As the two excused themselves, Paige imagined that Henry's mind was definitely elsewhere right now and he would only be more surprised when he found himself pinching herbs between his fingers to form a substance unintended for his mundane lifestyle.

**(X)**

The sorceress stared outside the room's window, letting her gaze fall upon the garden of Magic School laying beyond, particularly the fountain planted atop a hill that she'd always wished to visit but was always too busy studying, researching, and strategizing to take time out to sit by it; it looked like a good place to think. She turned her back to the outside of this enchanted, concealed realm that hovered above the natural world, but was positioned under the great beyond space. Billie moved to the center of the room and sat down, crossing her one leg under the other. Her eyes closed, she focused her collected energies into merging with her spirit, permitting it to escape past her flesh and out onto the world where...

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked, having manifested in with a buzzing that went ignored to Billie's focused senses. When she guiltily looked up at him, he raised an eyebrow, "Something tells me that you weren't just about to bounce side to side and sing campfire songs."

"Throw me in prison, I'm guilty," she said, lifting herself up from the floor, wishing he was quicker to aid her in getting up. A little distracted at the last thought, she continued, "Uh, um. Oh, right. I was going to try and project myself to see Christy. I figured it would be harmless if I wasn't going there myself, it would've just been an astral version-"

"That you could've been trapped in by Valen's magic or did you already forget what she managed to do to Paige's soul already? You're getting reckless and you need to slow down, Billie. Rose wanted you dead already and that was before she swallowed one nasty, embodiment of evil one day with a glass of water. Demons like killing if you haven't noticed, Valen knows of Rose's hate, so she's going to be _extra_ eager to kill you!" His face was growing red, the fire in his soul bursting with anger, warming his body and blood from the inside. "Dammit, I can't leave you alone for twenty minutes without you rushing to meet your maker!"

Taken back, the sorceress looked side to side, unable to decide on a reaction. He was showing how much he cared, not wanting her running off against an ancient power that wasn't vanquishable in the past – and he was right, she was being reckless. "I'm sorry, Cam. You and everyone else know this, but my sister is a sensitive subject to me, and when her life is on the line, I'm always willing to put mine down as well. I don't think-" she stopped to glare him back down for raising an eyebrow at her recent words, then continuing, "about the consequences all the time and I don't consciously try to get killed. I make some bad choices, I have in the past and I will in the future, but don't you understand that when you care enough about someone, you risk it all?"

This time, Cameron was at a loss as to how to respond, with his feelings still kept quiet for the girl in front of him, he wasn't sure if she had any idea how he felt about her – being raised as an assassin kept him divided from the quarters of love, therefore leaving him to lost to romancing, to telling the signs of mutual affection, and was instead left on lessons of beheading demons and finding his opponent's Achilles' Heel. If there was any shared understanding right now, he realized it was the question asked, knowing that although he didn't know how to confess his feelings for her, he would do his best to always champion her.

"Yeah, risk rings clear, Billie. I just want you to really prove that you know your dangerous next step and just stay still for once," Cameron finally replied, taking a couple of steps closer to her, wondering when they would share their first _moment_. A war was raging on, it wouldn't be anytime soon. _Would it_? he thought, mentally punishing himself some more. Ask him how to defeat the humanoid demons from the Serpentine Clan and he would tell you to repel their own venom on where their false hearts are, but asking Cameron Hawkins to propose a kiss would petrify him oblivious.

The two remained silent, completely unaware just how much their unspoken thoughts twinned and if a single voice spoke up, the two could join as one; partners in battle, a true friend to confide in, lovers...

"Did you find anything?" Billie asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

The mercenary nodded sideways, "Sorry, but I got nothing but bad news when I returned home."

"What's wrong?" She took a step towards him, leaving only three more quick steps in between them until they were face to face...

Cameron wanted to sit down for this, not having been able to go back to the Phoenix Mansion at the risk of showing weakness, but he didn't want to break the distance between himself and Billie. "A couple of my men were killed. They were last seen by her lair, a total group of three, and one was set free to send a message to us. To you as well."

"The message being?"

"I see no reason to repeat the formality of it, but she was basically telling us to bring it on." Cameron shuffled another step towards her and added, "This is why I was getting heated before, I'm sorry about that. It's just that she knows we're planning on knocking on her door and by the sounds of it, she's juiced up some of her residents; the demons are stronger. It's bad enough we haven't figured out how to stop her, but now she's sharing her power."

The sorceress looked at the piles of books, remembering many of the texts and the glimpse of hope she gained each time she saw something that sounded to be of worth but was canceled out by other ingredients and incorrect moon phases. "Why can't I just project that damn ritual here? What makes it so out of reach? Or better yet, what tongue-ties Avo and Rose from saying where _X _marks the spot?"

"I think they were chancing being heard by Valen – telling Paige what the ritual was to begin with was risky, but saying the location might've been even worse..." Cameron drifted off, thinking onwards.

The blonde grinned slightly, sensing realization in Cameron's changing features. "I feel a _Eureka! _coming on."

"If I was a nerd, you would've gotten it, but the case being otherwise, you'll just have to settle on how I think we may find the Ritual of the Spiritus Rector." He broke the space between them with another two steps, just leaving them a foot apart, and dropped a hand on her shoulder, sending a frightening warmth through her body and a flush in her cheeks.

"Are you saying you actually trust their word now? Rose, the vessel for Valen, included?"

Cameron nodded. "What other choice do we have? We can't let Valen parade on and collect more power. We've been spending our time researching books from past demons and forgotten sorcerers, but we haven't explored the past – and with your power, we can just do that. Didn't Rose tell you that it was a place not of our own? We've only been considering forgotten demonic temples and lairs, but how about time? "

She nodded along, ready to board this terrifying train. "Okay, this doesn't sound so terrible right now. Exactly how far back in time are we going? Ye olden days?"

"To Valen's last days before being reborn into Rose. We'll go back to when she was banished. Someone there has to have known about a ritual to kill her, but not the power to apply it."

Billie placed her own hand atop of Cameron's, the one on her shoulder, and forged an insincere smile, "Fine. Let me just go get my Whitelighter to sign my permission slip before going back to the Demonic Golden Age."

**(X) **

"Wait, _what_ is that?" the mortal asked his wife in the altar room as she held up an oaken mortar, stuffed with something that looked like the crushed peel of a browned banana mixed with yellowed flower heads.

The Witchlighter smiled up at Henry, handing him the pestle and repeated herself, "We have carob which is a healing ingredient topped off with some goldenrod which provides a wealth in being. Now, you're going to crush those bad boys up, and it's going to get our recovery potion underway."

"Recovery potion? What are we recovering?" Henry asked, awkwardly crushing the herbs in the domed interior of the mortar, earning a sly grin from his wife. "Is there something really powerful hidden inside some dark and scary demon dimension or something? Is it going to be liking pull a rabbit out of a hat, instead it'll be something cooler, because I mean, that rabbit-hat myth had to come from somewhere, right?"

Paige burst with laughter, red in the cheeks and warm in the face. "Your very own ramble! A sign that married folk really do take on the other's attributes." The two just smiled and she carried on. "Well, we're not recovering tracks for Excaliber or anything cool like that – just so you know, we actually know where the sword is, but that's besides the point. We're recovering Richard's powers from the ever-magical ether and possibly returning them to him."

"Richard, huh?" And with that, the cuteness between the two fell. "Is being an Average Joe not good enough for the former Wonder Warlock?" The crushing of the herbs grew intense and Paige quickly moved over to him, grabbing him by the wrist and stopping him.

"Don't go killing the herbs more than they need to be. We don't want to lose the magic from them, otherwise-"

"Richard won't get his powers back and can't save the day on a weekly basis, I know."

Flushed in the face now, Paige battled back the rising anger inside her and refrained from any insensitive comments. "Henry, don't take it any other way than what it is. Richard was a witch who was growing drunk with power. An alcohol-witch, if you lamely will. He seems to have sobered up since all those many years ago and may be ready for-"

"His first drink again?" Henry interrupted for a second time in a row. "You can't go judging his good behavior on leading a life without magic when he didn't have it in him to tempt him. Real alcoholics at least have the temptations to go into a bar and still say no to prove just how well off they are, but this guy didn't even have it in him to pull a rabbit out of a hat!"

A third voice entered the conversation, quickly recognized as the subject of discussion, "Do you even know my back story?" The two mortals stared each other down and Paige stood silent for the moment, refusing to referee a match between a friend whom she believed deserved a second chance against her husband who she thought was wrong, and possibly petty. "If Paige didn't want to give me my powers back, fine, I could've been sneaky and gone off to other witch contacts that I have, but seeing as she's the one who thought I could use time away from magic, I wanted to respect her wishes and opinion and see if she really thought I earned the right to play Dr. Who again."

"And what story did you tell her that had her swooning over your charms?"

"Henry!" Paige shouted, disrespected on many levels, the most important being her love called in question by an old flame, one that never burned too bright and has been long extinguished.

Looking back between Paige and Richard, a confused Henry didn't know whether to continue his assault or begin his much needed apology when a buzzing sound echoed through the room, causing him to spin around even more for the source. When the cells reformed both Cameron and Billie, the attention was on them.

Billie looked over at Richard, her eyes wide, "Whoops." She turned to Cameron and smacked him on the chest, "Hello, exposure." She flipped back to the current-mortal, shrugging awkwardly and cracking her knuckles. "So, you might have a question or two about what you just witnessed... Oh, screw it." Looking over her shoulder and at Paige, "Can I just use my power and make him forget what he saw like that cool gadget in 'Men in Black'?"

"Unnecessary," Paige replied, still nerved by her husband. "This is Richard, he used to be a witch. Richard, this is my little protégé, Billie and her boyfr-" the Witchlighter bit her lip, shying away from the looks on Billie's and Cameron's faces. "...her Phoenix friend, Cameron."

None showed any excitement towards one another, bigger things on all their minds, and embarrassment for the recently arrived. The mercenary cut the silence, "Paige, we need to talk to you. Like, now."

She clapped her hands, "A welcome distraction. What's up?"

"We were doing research at Magic School and came to a conclusion about Valen. None of the texts are helping us out here and the historic accounts left for her aren't helping so much in figuring out to kill her," Billie started. "So...the past..."

Paige held up her finger and turned to Henry and Richard. "Richard, you want your powers back? Help Henry with the potion as far as two mortal men can make it. When I come back, I'll finish it and we'll act from there."

"But, Pai-"

The Witchlighter quickly rushed to Cameron and Billie, gripping their shoulders and orbing out. Henry and Richard engaged in a stare-down with potential to grow violently from there.

**(X)**

Paige followed behind Cameron and Billie as they returned into the study room of Magic School where they previously left their demonic and sorcerous texts. "...Okay, so we're hoping that by going back into time, we can learn more about the way to destroy Valen for good – once and for all?"

Billie picked up an old book where she first studied Valen and pointed down at the page. "We know that they resorted to the Living Grave because they had an idea on what might work, but couldn't risk it."

"So we're going to risk it?" Paige asked, feeling uneasy. "It just seems like we need to have a guarantee on Valen's lease on reborn life." She traveled towards the table, inspecting some of the books the pair had been studying through all day.

Cameron folded his arms, nodding to Paige's concern. "I agree, but we're reaching that point where we have to swing at Valen with something. You told us yourself, Rose threatened to raise demons of the Old Age and they may already have come home already. We don't need more Valens, but if we can vanquish her, there's a chance everyone she returned with her own power will go _boom_ as well."

"There's nothing concrete though, we're just crossing our fingers. How do you plan on infiltrating these demons? Or even returning that far back in time?" the Witchlighter shot a look at Billie, "You've never traveled through time at these lengths before. Aren't we scared of getting, you know, lost and living with cavemen?"

Billie closed the text on Valen and replied, "At least we get to create fire. Sounds promising."

"Not funny."

"Agreed," Cameron assented, strolling over to Billie and taking the book from her. He found the few pages that noted Valen's history. "Yeah, we're only going back about nine centuries."

"_Only _nine centuries?" Paige exclaimed, pulling over a chair and sitting herself down. "With a mentality like that, I can't believe we're the champions of this world. We have a mercenary with no appreciation of time tag-teaming with the sister of a firestarter he was contracted to kill and who are both under my voice of command and I can't even convince my husband that I love him and all his mortal ways. Go Team Us!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Cameron held up a hand, slowing down Paige from ranting even further. "I'm not necessarily under your care. I'm offering my assistance, I can bow out of this at any time. I think you're cool and whatever, but I'm not _your_ soldier. We're engaged in a massive war with many sides to it, but come tonight, there's going to be a battle we can only pray to survive."

"You sound so confident," Paige retorted. "Sounds like your fears are coming to surface."

In an outrage, Cameron's temper burst free, and he threw the volume against the wall, breaking the already weak build of the book. "Okay, you want the truth? I'm freaking terrified, I've constantly put on a face around you guys because it just seems to be expected of me. I've never had the chance to emote fear at the risk of everyone's morale falling, but I've battled terrible evils before, but this is beyond my pay grade and yet, I'm still willing to throw my body out there."

The Phoenix witch dropped his eyes to the floor, feeling both Paige's and Billie's on him, stunned. He broke his promise to himself, that being to never admit the fear that warriors felt before going into battle. By admitting fear, he was admitting to owning emotions, to _feeling_. This was an honesty he'd always vowed to keep buried in his frightened soul.

Comfort approached the assassin in the shape of Billie who wrapped her arms around, folding the space between them with a hug. Her hushed voice spoke into his ear, pressing her cool breath onto him, "You're not the only one scared." His hands remained on his side, fighting back the urge to fully connect the hug she initiated.

Paige looked down awkwardly, wishing the two would just declare their feelings for one another already; they cared for each other on a great level, it was obvious. She scratched her forehead, "Uh, I hate to break this up guys, but we have to move."

Billie pulled away from the non-responsive Cameron, unable to look him in the eyes, leading her to believe that what she believed to be a mutual affection was nothing but a fantasy in her head. "We have our plan. It's just a matter of going back now to the Demon Dome."

Everyone fell silent, lost in their individual thoughts about the approaching fight. Once again, Paige finally spoke up and said, "Would it be possible if I sat this out? If you guys are going to play it low-key, I shouldn't be worried about a fight. I just wanna get prepped for the battle, possibly do some research on mystical forces that can back us up."

Suspecting there was more to it that was being left unsaid, Billie nodded. "No, that sounds great. It's probably best if you stay in this time with your sisters in case we're buried too deep in time and we need you guys to bring us back." Keeping her back to Cameron, she patted Paige's shoulder on her way out of the door and said, "I'm going to get set up."

Trying to be the adult her birthday declared her to be, Paige apologized, "I'm sorry if I pressed you, Cameron. There's just a lot depending on the success of this that even my arch nemesis wants his recreation dead. I'm also concerned about Billie as always..."

"As am I," Cameron replied. "She's been the main reason that I tango with these demons. And I'll dance alongside her until my end." With that, he rushed after the sorceress.

Paige looked up to the heavens, wishing there was a force beyond there that she believed in that she could pray to, but the Great Above was still infested with polluted Elders. She glowed in orbs, carrying her back down to her home, leaving the chair she was sitting on empty.

**(X)**

When Cameron found Billie in an empty classroom, one used to help psychics embrace their abilities to safe levels, it's no wonder that the young sorceress chose this room over others to help aid her in the journey through time. The energy pulsed against his sensory abilities, welcoming him in an environment of safe psychically charged power. He felt in tuned, almost allowing him to gain a full scope of what Billie was both thinking and feeling, but instead, all he felt was a sliver of her dedicated concentration as she sat cross-legged in the middle of the room on an orange satin pillow and eyes closed.

He didn't want to disturb her, but he didn't want to risk her all of a sudden vanishing before and without him. "Is there room for two on that floor?"

Her eyes remained close, but her fingers began gently tapping away at her knees, "Pull up a pillow."

Cameron sat parallel to her without the pillow and felt as if he was violating her somehow by just staring at her when she wasn't looking; he wasn't one of those lame romantics who would appear in the bedroom of his sleeping crush to just _watch _her. They had no entitlement to one another, so that would've been creepy. "How's this room helping you out?"

Her hands stretched out to him with her palms facing upwards, inviting his to fall flat on hers. "It's helping to build my imagination of what her palace looked like...I'm feeling connected to a time I shouldn't be a part of...The air itself feels different and-" his hands fell atop of hers and he held on, in a gentle grip to ensure that wherever she went from that time on, he was with her. The contact threw her off more than she thought it would when inviting her hands out, but she regained focus after a sharp inhale of breath. "I'm hearing echoes...my senses are expanding to sharpen the voices...I hear arguments and pure panic...a rebellion reaching the moment as they prepared the Living Grave..."

A gold light blazed as a violent wind danced around them, throwing aside Billie's hair and breaking apart Cameron's zipper and flipping his jacket open, howling the haunting screams of history into their minds...

The room seemed to spin around them as they fell into the vortex of time traveling, being rewound to the moment where Valen fell for the first time, though moving back this far disrupted the usual smoothness of Billie's projection power. Instead of closing her eyes and re-imagining herself in a different period and waking up in that time, this was intensely interactive, such as their drop through the vortex...

Their hands remained interlocked, neither letting go of the other in the frightening moment of what was happening because wherever they were going, the other would be there to back them up through whatever dangers approached. Billie's eyes remained closed during the experience, but Cameron witnessed the cyclones of cement-gray and shadow-black which sparked fireworks of an orange to rival that of the sun's as well the streams of a pale moonlight. He understood this to be the infinity of solar phases they were traveling behind, but he soon caught sight of a hole at the end of the tunnel below...

**(X)**

_**Approximately late 1100's...**_

...and together, they crashed onto a silver-plated floor. Bruises would soon form on their aching bodies, but if they didn't act quick enough and were discovered by the already panicking demons, they were risking more. Billie finally opened her eyes, first spotting Cameron's features lit under the firelight of the original Temple's structure. When she looked to see where the glow came from, she saw stoned Wyvern dragons on the wall, easily identified to the studious sorceress by their warring wings, diamond shaped claws, and their frozen, yet flamingly vicious glares. She knew these dragons to be extinct in her present, and was glad of so.

A chorus of voices was sounding clear to both Billie and Cameron and the mercenary pressed a finger to his mouth, silencing her from an inevitably unnecessary comment. He gestured for her to take cover with him behind a gold statue of a lindworm, otherwise known as a legless dragon. Once safe, Cameron finally let go of Billie's hand, knowing that their present task in this dark past time was more important than whatever did or didn't exist between them. They peeked over the lindworm's tail and saw many demonic beings, monsters in various forms and sizes, as well as lower-leveled minions all working as one as they appeared to be assembling a ritual.

Standing in front of the throne was a gathering of six men along with one redheaded woman in front of them. Her voice could barely be heard over the panic of the demons in front of her, but it was apparent she was shouting instructions at everyone in front of her. She remained unheard as demons bumped into each other, all trying to complete their individual tasks, whether it was burying scorched-looking stones and gems into the ground, telekinetically building the prison that history spoke of containing Valen's essence, or even more minor roles such as shoveling or carrying rocks away.

Billie studied the attires of the different demons and decided that the leather attire of a bronze vest, black fitting pants, and matching colored boots of the minions was the easiest disguise to project onto both her and Cameron without using anymore magic than she had to; the time-rewind exhausted her energies, leading her to believe that projecting the complex looking armor of the Neptune-blue three-horned demon with an extra arm extending from where a human heart is would've been too much, not that she particularly wanted to look that way either.

What would've normally been an instant glamour took a couple more moments to process, indicated by the slow gold light that fell down from their necks to their feet, replacing their attire with the minion-wear. "So what's the plan? What can we and can't we do here?" Billie asked, careful of not disrupting Time. All it took was one mistake and the future could be changed, forged under the influence of Valen who may have never been imprisoned.

"I think as long as we blend in and don't say much, only allowing their natural conversation to move forward. Time traveling varies, there are some beliefs that even moving a rock from its place can break the pattern, while others believe that the Traveler is allowed to move around freely either because that's how Destiny intended or the Fate of the matter is already sealed in stone," Cameron explained cooly, not losing himself in the confusing words. "For all we know, we've done this before and might have even aided in the original Living Grave ritual..."

Billie shook her head, already mentally and physically exhausted by projecting this far back that she didn't need to try and understand time traveling. "I feel like I should just treat this century as a stranger's home, you know, don't touch anything."

The screams of a banshee band violently pierced the air, stopping all the demons from their tasks to turn their attention to the red-headed instructor. "Apologies, but I urgently beg of your attention," she sorrowfully replied. "Valen returns soon from her battle and I sense her power – her opponent is putting up a fight against her, but she will prevail as she always has, but tonight we bury her while she's been enervated. Are we in fair condition?"

"It'll never work!" A demon cried, throwing his shovel onto the opened ground, separated from the silver plates. "She'll see what we're up to and we'll be lucky if she snaps our necks instead of some infinite torture." Sensing his fate as it happened to others, he let loose with an energy ball that the red-headed sorceress simply deflected back at him without any gesture, destroying the demon before Valen could.

Her eyes glowed red and a supernatural wind twisted around her, blowing her hair off her shoulders and her voice morphed demonic, "We've no time for doubt. If you believe we're to fail, then raise a fireball to your mouths now and swallow them whole because Valen will care not for your late loyalty since we've come this far. This has been years of plotting under her nose, only left undetected to her because of enchantments known only to crones and hags. If we remain united, then Valen shall fall. Now my spell is ready and when our Queen returns, we'll bury her alive." With that, her eyes returned to an ordinary brown, and she commanded more instructions...

Cameron observed Billie who seemed to be in deep thought and asked, "What's going on in your noggin?"

"I don't know, I just feel a connection to that sorceress up there. I felt her power when she used it on that demon and now I feel like there's an itch that only she can scratch for me," Billie replied, regretting it instantly under how that context is often mistaken. "I wanna go speak with her. I feel like there's something important she can tell me."

"This doesn't sound like something you should ignore. I'll go with you," Cameron rose to full stance and helped a tired Billie to her feet.

"No, just watch from the shadows. Help these demons or whatever. I just..._know_ that it has to be me who speaks with her," Billie said, in tune with her sorcerous talents, but that wasn't enough.

"I don't think so. I'm not going to let you walk through across this lair after everything it took to get here. I'm going with you."

Billie looked at him, remorseful as she placed a hand on her temple and said aloud, "Stay." She watched apologetically as the mercenary before her glowed gray for a brief moment, immobilized. When she saw that he wasn't frozen in a way that Piper's power accomplishes on many demons, leaving only his eyes to follow her as she walked into the inevitable battlefield of their present time, she didn't want to leave him unguarded. Quickly, she cast a protective circle around him that wouldn't hold very long, but would give her enough time to race over to him and toss away any attackers with her power.

She looked ahead at the hundred of demons before her, grateful for her disguise as she put one foot before another, navigating her way through sudden death should she be discovered as the sorceress from the future affiliated with witches who had yet to be prophesized to deliver damage against Evil's numbers; the Charmed line may not have been foreseen yet, but she wouldn't put it past the leading sorceress to detect profound magic in coming years...

Billie glanced occasionally on her way to the redhead, trying to remember from her studies what the effects of the stones the demons were burying were, but the power she used to project backwards, glamour disguises, immobilize and guard Cameron took too much out of her to even think properly. After several minutes, she reached the awkwardly raised stage where Valen's mountainous throne rested.

The redhead made contact with Billie and her eyes flared red and in that same instant, Billie's glowed violet for a brief moment. The sorceresses recognized the power in one another and the redhead glided down to where Billie stood, turning her to the side, "You're from another time, one much later from here. You're the one I've been waiting for."

"You've been waiting for me? How is it that you knew I was coming?" Billie asked, feeling very supported by her theory that this sorceress may even know of the Charmed line to come.

"None of us in attendance tonight own the power to destroy Valen, our tyrant of a Queen. We've gathered enough power to bury her alive, but her death is beyond us. We lack the true heart with the power to end Valen once and for all, leaving her to only be a history to later speak about to scare children and demons everywhere," she explained, looking very youthful up close. Her age and name were yet to be determined, but Billie figured she was going to get neither out of her.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what did she do that lead to all of this?" Billie asked, taking advantage of having an insider tell her about Valen, maybe even learn some additional weaknesses.

"There's no time, but you'll learn your answers with two items I'll leave in your care. It's crucial that you understand how to vanquish Valen once and for all. Is this something you're prepared to take on, Billie Jenkins?"

Unaffected by how the redhead knew her name, despite a slight shiver of realizing her importance to this vanquish, Billie assented with a nod. "Whatever it takes."

The sorceress held out her hands and an iron-covered book with Valen's sigil (a circle with a couple of well angled spikes) manifested into her willing arms. "Here is the history of Valen, containing the ritual to eradicate the unholy bitch, but there is a step inside that will mean little to you and may be overlooked, so let me explain..." the redhead looked grim as she spoke the unfortunate truth to the young girl before her. "It begins with a sacrifice of a well-intentioned heart, preferably yours..." the sorceress trailed off, instructing Billie on how to die so Valen may be vanquished.

**(X)**

When Billie returned to Cameron minutes later with a tome under one arm, she waved her other to unfreeze him and broke the protective enchantment. "We have to get out of-"

"How _dare_ you do that to me? You understand what the hell you just risked by putting me out of action? You could've been demon dinner, hypnotized into doing demon deeds, been slaved into being a _demon's _bitch, or-_slash_-and converted into a demon yourself!" Cameron shouted, luckily unheard by the demons as they were too into finalizing their objectives. "You're so damn irresponsible, I don't understand why you don't just hire and pay me to kill you for you! That way I can quit my concerns on protecting you, help you die already, and make a good buck or two to do it."

"Did you get that out of your system? Good, because I need you to shut up so I can think our way back into our time. The big bad Queen is apparently on her way back here, so that means our back-to-the-past trip has reached its curtain call," Billie sniped back, angered by everything she just learnt from the unnamed sorceress. The two just stared at each other, hurt by the other's words.

Before Cameron could argue further or ask Billie how she received that volume with Valen's sigil on it, a sapphire light exploded into the room and everyone's attention was turned to the center of the room as Valen appeared in a different body. The body she owned in this time belonged to an older girl of very pale flesh, but the badger colored hair and sapphire eyes existed as majestic as ever.

Valen in her unknown host looked around at her defiant demons, immediately sensing betrayal in the air, "So when your Queen is away, you pets play." She immediately flicked her wrists towards a circle of eight beings with an obliterating blue blast, officially putting two different demonic species into extinction. "I've given you breath and modeled you out of nothing and in return, you try and make dust of me? Adorably impossible."

"Luckily we found an alternative," the sorceress screamed back before levitating into the air, casting a protective barrier around herself with power that she'd been storing for the past seven evenings to even build a defense against Valen. She then began to chant in a foreign tongue, activating the effects of the demons' work.

The ancient demon fired off several boulder-sized balls of concentrated sapphire energy at the sorceress' shield, weakening the magical structure, but not destroying it as immediate as she would've hoped. Masses of black light exploded from the center of the lair, twisting itself into a cyclone at first that danced around Valen and suddenly shaped into a shadowy angel, one of the original Reapers in existence...

Billie felt more fatigued than ever in the presence of an Angel of Death, slowly absorbing her life force in a way that it wasn't affecting the demons, only herself and Cameron. She closed her eyes, gripping Cameron's shoulder as she thought about home, Magic School, the manor, even her old college dorm, unable to decide in the panic of where to return to, all she knew was that she had to escape before her and Cameron's last breaths were vacuumed out of them because it wasn't their time (literally) to go now.

She kept her eyes closed, finally deciding on returning straight to Paige, wherever she was; if anyone had the potential to help Billie through her final day, it was her best friend of a Whitelighter. She focused on Paige's features, falling in and out of concentration with all the agonized screams of the fallen and explosions occurring in the background. She felt herself being lifted up into the air, carrying both the tome and Cameron like feathers into a more familiar time.

The sorceress knew her elevation was leading them back and she maintained concentration as she peaked out onto the scene below her, making eye contact with the redheaded sorceress who aided in her the knowledge she would need for the battle she was returning home for and before Billie lost sight of everything, she saw the enormous shadowed Reaper slashing away at Valen's vessel and gripping her navy blue essence with its ethereal clawed hand, hurling her into the grave made out of her palace, condemning her to suffocate for what was supposed to have been eternity...

**(X)**

Paige finally found the courage to return to her altar room after spending time with Peter inside her bedroom, the both of them drawing pictures of him orbing to different parks with his _Paigey _and _Henny _and little _sissies_. She realized that like her approaching battles, she had to face all her problems, and that included her unreasonably jealous husband. She knocked on the door before entering and only saw Richard and Phoebe inside, not the man in question.

The Witchlighter shot an inquisitive look at Richard and asked, "Did you turn my husband into my sister? Because I already have one too many of those."

"Cute," Phoebe replied with a smirk, crossing one leg over another as she sat down. "Your hubby went out for a drive. Was leaving these two in your magical room alone really the best of ideas?"

"It definitely wasn't of Einstein I.Q, but it had potential. It was supposed to be like in the movies where you leave two people in a room who kinda hate each other and they eventually find some reason to not knock the other's heads off," Paige bit her lip and folded her arms. "Something tells me you and Henry aren't going to be emailing buddies, huh, Rich?"

"It was just a bad idea for me to come here unannounced. I'm sorry for whatever troubles I've caused you," the former he-witch apologized. "My powers aren't worth anyone's troubles. I should've learned."

"It's not that your powers aren't worth my troubles, I just wish I had some warning and that we could've maybe scheduled this meeting. There's just too much going on right now, I have two people in a very deep past right now, a battle to mentally and physically prepare for, a family to take care of, and a birthday to celebrate! Your wanting your powers back is just the icing on an already sloppily put together cake."

Phoebe rose from her seat anxiously, eyes wide, "Back up. Who's in the past?" Sensing Paige's response, the empath annoyingly spoke for her, "Billie? Paige, you let her go by herself?...Oh, she went with the Cameron guy that she totally has the hots for, reasonably so. Shouldn't you have gone with them?"

Paige realized that Phoebe was beginning to dig into her buried emotions, including the swelling panic of surviving the battle with Valen to take on Avo, her fated foe, even more so, the dealings of her coma. "Phoebe, please go. I can't have you telling me how I'm feeling before I'm ready to talk about it myself. I need to wrap this up with Richard."

Still anxious, Phoebe quickly made her exit for the door as she was tapping into too many of Paige's emotions, including the ones left unspoken since she woke up from the coma. With the door closed behind Phoebe, Paige dropped her arms back to her sides and asked, "Are you sure you want the Hocus Pocus factor back in your life? I mean, the last time we discussed this, you couldn't handle my having magic around as it taunted to you and then when you insisted on hopping back on the broomstick, my sisters and I died for a little while."

He withheld a grin, knowing that it wasn't nearly as grim after all these years, but still felt it to be a tad immoral. "I understand where I went wrong, I abused my magic, but since I've begun counseling others as a method to learn how to save myself as well."

"So by saving others, you saved yourself?" Paige scoffed, burying her laughter within at the lame, but honest response. "I'm sorry, go on."

Richard chuckled as well and defended, "I know it sounds lame, but I learned my lesson. I matured and I wanna have a role and make a difference. Not necessarily for the fame, but I want to die one day and have done enough to be remembered by and have made that difference. You think I want people remembering me as some magic junky? I want people to recognize that magic is dangerous and can tempt you into having a bit of a dark side, but you can climb out of it. I wanna help people and at my funeral, people will crowd me and thank me in the way that they'll thank you."

Taken back, Paige had no idea she was inspiring Richard with a destiny that she was slightly unsure about. It took courage to embrace a life of magic that you weren't fated to live; he had no demonic counterparts that the world needed him to take down, he was freely paving the way to his own destiny and fighting a fight that didn't recruit him. The Witchlighter walked over to the cauldron, grabbing hawthorn leaves inside to rebuild the bond between man and magic. "Flattery gets you everywhere with me, Richard."

The potion exploded, blasting gold sparks into the air before dissipating into the ether. She picked up a baster from the table, squeezing onto the pump to suck up the power recovery potion and when she had enough, she released it into a vial. "And with a cork on top..." she popped a cork in and handed it off. "Voila! You have your powers back whenever you want them."

"Thanks so much," he replied. "I promise, I won't let you down and if I feel I'm not owning up to my word, I'll call you and-"

"Don't doubt yourself," Paige interrupted, walking over to Richard to hug him. "I sure don't. You're going to make a fantastic dude-witch again. You're walking the streets on your own and you're not using magic to fight your neighbors or banish your girlfriend's spirit. You're going to do great." The two parted and smiled. "At least you have it together."

"What's bothering you, magic-wise?"

"I just don't feel one with my magic right now. I'm not sure if it reached your ears, but I was just under a very heavily dosed coma, cursed by some ancient demon Queen, of course, and it served as punishment. I missed out on time with my children, time learning more about my magic, defending charges, and even little things like watching the latest 'Ghost Whisperer' or 'Brothers and Sister' episode." She began to clean up the herbs used to prepare Richard's potion and continued, "Once Billie gets back, it's ritual time, and then we have to take her on. I don't feel up to it. It's my birthday and I should be able to do what I want to, right? That song said so! And yet, I have to fight battle after battle and I already had to witness my family live a life without me. That's not something I want them or myself to have to relive anytime soon."

Richard was quiet, unsure why he, basically a stranger now, was the one Paige was pouring her heart out to. "You're destined, I guess. I'm in this game voluntarily, but you need to accept that you have too much heart to not be expected to save the world. I shouldn't need to tell you what kind of person you are and here I am reminding you that if you continue to think of magic as just an extracurricular activity, you're going to be forever wandering around life searching for definition of who you are. Magic is clearly a big part of you, you just have to accept the burdens and be grateful for the rewards."

Paige stood still, quiet. "Yeah."

Silent moments passed and Richard debated entering in a dangerous territory for conversation, but reserved himself; his time had passed, and Paige was clearly in love with this Henry guy. He would just hope to make the most out of his building attraction with Felicia, the woman at work, and hope that she turned out to be half the woman Paige is. "I think I should be on my way now." To this, Paige only nodded, still dealing with the crowd of thoughts in her head. "It was great seeing you again, Paige. And thank you."

When he turned for the door, Paige called out, "Not going to take a sip of your potion juice now and just teleport on home?"

He grinned over his shoulder and nodded dissentingly, "It's unnecessary; I'm not going to take advantage of the powers. Good luck with your fights, Paige. You have too much to come home to." With that, the soon-to-be-restored witch left the room, respecting the advice that Phoebe had given him when she came into the room and unintentionally picked up on his emotions.

Paige stood in the room by herself, a room she had tailored for her magical needs, and just took the time to think, to be uninterrupted by everything for just a little while longer, until...

A ring of gold light exploded inches below the ceiling, leading Paige to believe that angelic beings were about to gracefully fly out and bless her with the strength she'd need to take on Rose and Avo, but she was more than relieved when her fantasy was crushed by Billie and Cameron dropping out of the projected portal, smashing onto the floor face-first. A demonic tome slipped out of Billie's grip and before Paige could help either of them up, she noticed her young friend may have lost possession of whatever that book was, but managed a hold on Cameron's shoulder.

Billie rolled onto her back, taking a deep breath in her demon attire and saw Paige crouching down to heal any injuries, "So...Valen?" The tome was slowly willed closer to Billie and she pat its cover like a loyal pet. "She is going the hell down."

**End of Chapter.**

**A/Note: **Hopefully no one's bothered by my still mainly referring to Rose (who is now a prisoner of her body and no longer steering the ship) as Rose and only occasionally as Valen. The reason being, it's Rose's body and Valen is more the name of the power that Rose absorbed, as has been pointed out in earlier chapters. The characters will refer to her as both, but the prose itself is going to read as "Rose fought..." and trust me, Rose will be fighting quite a bit come the next chapter. Reviews? **Final Chapters! **


	28. Spiritus Rector

**Chapter 28 – Spiritus Rector **

**Previously on _Witchlighter_: **Paige tried to juggle her responsibilities of being a mother, Whitelighter, wife and the center of attention on her birthday, but the distraction of her old flare Richard appearing and Billie traveling through time with Cameron to the Old Age of Valen, her day is hardly celebrated. Paige and Henry argue over Richard's presence in their home, sending Henry storming out of the house and Billie returns to the present time with a book containing the ritual that will kill the Valen-infested Rose...if Billie is willing to die herself.

_**August 2nd, 2007 **_(continues a short time from the previous chapter).

Billie closed the door of her bedroom behind her, deciding to change into something a little more comfortable than the attire of Valen's minions from past centuries ago. She struggled out of the tight, leather pants after kicking off the boots and slipped on her fitting blue jeans. She next found a sleeveless black shirt from a couple nights ago, too overworked with all things magical to even drop a shirt into her hamper. She kicked the demon-wear into a corner of her room, took a good look of the boots she just popped off and decided that they were both comfortable for battle and appropriate; this wasn't a war she wanted to fight in heeled-boots.

The sorceress walked over to her bureau, littered with eyeliner, blush, a jeweled wand-rod she borrowed from Magic School's stock to practice some enchantments, colorful candles, and a large mirror which leaned against the wall behind it. She took a hold of the sandalwood candle, willing it to light with a simple mental spell amongst sorceresses, choosing to exercise her powers and watched as a small flame was born on the wick, slowly drawing out the relaxing scent. Billie placed the candle back down, wondering what her next step should be.

Surely it should involve reading through the instructions on what was needed to vanquish Valen, maybe even take out Rose in the process, but these were her last hours being alive. She was willing to save her on-loan family and friends from this primeval demoness, but there was still too much she never accomplished; she never graduated college, never got to grow into her witch-hood far enough to train younger generations herself, she never got to express her feelings to him...

There were questions she often felt haunted by, hoping to learn that the answers she was getting were all truthful and nothing less:

Did she ever truly redeem herself to Paige and the sisters for betraying them during their Ultimate Battle? Has she saved enough witches and innocents to be truly and fully forgiven? Did she accomplish this when she aided in rescuing Magic School, guaranteeing a promising education for future generations? Or maybe she was forgiven when she took over as Head Witch in the Mitchell-Matthews manor during Paige's pregnancy? She knew her betrayal could never be forgotten, but she didn't want any of them to doubt forgiving her, and maybe she could only prove her loyalty through this sacrifice.

Too many thoughts bounced back in forth in her head, creating much traffic to moving forward with preparing the ritual while there was still time. All it took was Rose starting the battle before they were ready and they'd _all_ be dead. This motivated Billie to rush back to her bed where the tome on Valen's history and vanquish was recorded down, listing her as the destined being to take her out. She sat cross-legged on the bed, telekinetically flipping the cover open as she subconsciously braided away at her hair, unconcerned by personal gain. The first page read:

_Rosswell the Thaumaturge's Volume_

_of the Nefariously Regal Beings; Sixth Edition. _

The pages flipped backwards twice, leaving a listing of the many demons recorded down, many of them taking on the names King, Queen, Prince, Sovereign, Dynast, Overlord... Then she saw one of the latest entries; _Valen the Valorous, Queen of Demons*. _Billie rolled her eyes at the kind of demon or sorcerer or whatever this Rosswell guy was who actually used an asterisk, but decided not to discredit him for obviously knowing enough about the Underworld's many hierarchies; he had to have been beyond his years to bear such wisdom. She scanned for the reference point and found it on the next page.

_*The majority of the demons Valen governs are of her own personal construct, her own empire; they were created to serve her, ensouled with old spirits to make her demons wiser than the average, therefore capable of fighting with greater conscience – tenacious, spirited soldiers. _

_Just needs to be noted that Valen is far from Queen of all Demons; merely the ones she's created and others she's recruited._

The talk of spirits made sense with what was being asked of Billie to defeat Valen; after all, her power hadn't been seen in centuries and this marked her as the one destined to champion the Valen-infested Rose; two evils with hopefully one stone. The braid in Billie's hair was going thicker, much like a rope, all a sign of her stress. And with another psychic thought, the pages rapidly flipped until Valen's entry appeared. An illustration of sapphire eyes were drawn underneath her name which was highlighted in an image of navy-colored smoke; the true essence of the demon, witnessed by Billie when she saw the Reaper burying her into the Living Grave. Below the image was a passage, speaking of the demon herself.

_As demons entered into a new generation of black magic, the dark time where the Underworld would be counseled under one leader to be known as the Source of all Evil, there have been many covetous beings demanding this throne by declaration of bloodline and power. While many of these candidates battled each other out for the victory of being Hell's commanding voice, demons such as Valen (amongst others) bore the strength to eradicate the power-hungry demons on the nights when the phases of the moon and fearing stars cried that her power was at its zenith. Despite how much power was awarded to the Source through the dead words of the original Grimoire, the matriarchal Valen oversaw demons of her own creation and dominated many realms with her empire. _

_In the 1300's, Valen took flight to the Rynex Realm where she peacefully offered the demon Broncian, the realm's Overseer, to relinquish ownership of Rynex itself and when he declined, the Queen of Demons was forced to challenge him in combat. In a battle that lasted six unnatural moon phases, witnesses and the demon herself spoke of how she managed a Mind Lingering Spell (for full details, refer to page 245) which gave her an opportunity to deliver her cosmic sapphire blast as his attention was forcibly focused on his enemy's baleful eyes. After the Queen championed her victory through a demon of near equal strength of her own in his own realm where he was supported by the psychic magicks in the air, this gave Valen the confidence in her power to move forward through time in collecting more realms, and therefore, more soldiers for the inevitable final battle, the War to End All._

_It is here, where the demon became recognized as Valen the Valorous, Queen of the Demons for she was an admiring exemplar of being both a soldier and leader..._

Billie stopped reading for a moment, absorbing knowledge on Valen's power and how Rose could intend to use it. She had no idea when this War to End All would be, but she knew that after tonight, neither Valen nor Rose would live to see the final conflict. The sorceress continued to read on, fear carrying through her body as she learned of the demon's bloody history and what this could mean for her tonight; she didn't want to be flayed alive for an eternity like the dark witch Rhod who took a moment too long to perform a counter-curse against Valen nor did she wish to be melted into a chest-plate like Reyn (a multidimensional sorceress, obscurely known) who would forever protect the heart of the enemy she wished to utilize death upon by altering pivotal moment's in the demon's life.

Even with her coveted projection power, an ability she hadn't ever used to its full potential before, would it be enough to destroy this demon? Demons much wiser than her could only bury Valen and this only carried the demon's rage to new levels, and Billie struggled believing that her little 'ol self would be the one to strike her dead, prophesized or not.

After reading several more pages, learning some of Valen's battle tactics, successful victories for realms with remarkable power, and her ownership of several artifacts that could be used to unleash chaotic demons, Billie reached the end of the historic passages and reached the colored portrait of the body Valen was inhabiting; the image drawn didn't necessarily respect the same demon Billie had seen as the girl wasn't as pale or as stunning as portrayed here. Deciding not to analyze the picture, Billie flipped the page once more and saw that the entry was done. There was no more to be said on Valen and the book was moving onto a hyrda-looking demon who's eight heads were inconsistent with the other; eagle, serpent, lion, panther, dragon, phoenix, one of Man, and the last being that of a three-eyed demon. Whatever it was, Billie didn't want to ever compete against it and it wasn't her lasting concern for the moment.

Where was the ritual to conquer Valen? The _reason_ she was given this book. Before she could freak out, a knock cut her off and Paige entered the room saying, "You look like you could use a break. It's just one of the oldest demons we're ever fighting, no need to look as if you have the weight of the world on your tiny shoulders." She grinned, sitting down on the bed with her friend and the demonic tome in between them both.

"The ritual that's supposed to be in here isn't in here," Billie replied, smacking the pages of the books. "What the hell was that sorceress playing at? She says she wants and needs me to vanquish Valen and she forgets to leave me the How-To?"

"Calm down, it's going to be alright," Paige lied convincingly, truly terrified herself now. The confidence Billie had when she returned to this time was washed away, her hope in being favored in this battle destroyed by a simple lie. "There are other solutions, things we haven't tried or explored yet and-"

"No, Paige, this had to be it! I saw how hard those demons were working to save their own necks, how badly this chick pleaded with me to do what must be done, well aware that Valen was going to eventually escape. This was prophesized, probably written in stone somewhere, and what I need now is the ritual that was promised to me to be inside this book!" Billie shouted and the words flew out of her mouth and gracefully descended down onto _Rosswell's Volume, _echoing her command.

The tome shone cobalt for a brief instant, then turned sour in color into a bruised purple. Both Billie and Paige just watched the magic affect the book and an aged sheet grew out from in between the pages and fell onto the image of the hydra-like demon, still. Instantly, Billie knew this to be the ritual, but focused onto the note on the top.

_If you're reading this, you're fortunate that I'm still among the living, but very much hidden from all of you. In conducting the ritual to vanquish Valen, many factors were taken into consideration. Where can we find the power to not only match hers, but trump it? Who could champion such a cruel monster? And then, visions were witnessed, explored in great detail, and we found you. _

_We must admit, it wasn't as we were expecting. And for this, I hide, because there are doubts amongst choruses of greater doubts that you'll emerge from your battle alive, and that's not even including the sacrifice being asked of you. We're not sure you'll make it that far, but should you, that would mean that one day I could come out of my hiding from ruins so deep and unreachable that Death itself can't find me. _

_Quite frankly, I'm bored. _

_But none of that matters at the moment seeing as I'd rather be bored then burned into an infinity of pain by Valen's power. My existence allows this enchantment to remain concealed from the eyes of Evil, specifically Valen should this tome fall unto her cruel, punishment-dealing hands. The ritual and I are connected, just as you will be when you are amongst the spirits, bearing the voice to kill their Queen. Your power showing you these words is a display of the strength you wield, unlocking my very own sorcery that is forgotten to demonkind. _

_You are the sorceress. You will fight Valen the Valorous, Hell-Queen of Demons, and together, you will die. _

_Possibly as you're waiting for the elixir to finish cooling, you'd like to say your goodbyes. _

_My visions show that you have allies, dare I say, friends? _

_I'm aware this may seem a bit out of touch for a being of my nature, but thank you. We need strong leaders in the Underworld to eradicate your kind, but if they know no bounds, then we just have a tyrant at hand. _

_Should you fail, Valen will own all in due time. Be our resistance. _

Billie's breath remained held within her, her heart pounding with activity at just how much was expected of her; the lengths that were taken just so she could destroy another. Little did she know that she was to be a savior of this degree...and knowing it now, terrified her. The weight of the world was pressing down on her fragile shoulders, attempting to bury her into itself, ravenous for the blood containing the power to destroy a tremendous Evil. Billie knew the world itself couldn't contain Valen's essence, only proven by her unearthing and-

"Billie?" Paige called out, snapping her fingers to awaken the zoned out sorceress. "To use a lame cliché, though lamely appropriate in our line of work, you look like you've just seen a ghost."

Choosing her words carefully (and mournfully), she quietly replied, "Not yet." She covered this up with a cough, then carried on, "Uh, sorry, the ritual's here now. I projected it to show itself it looks like. We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. It has to be done in the witching hour and we can't risk not doing this tonight. Rose said that Valen gets strong with each passing moon."

"With Avo and Valen running loose amongst a sea of other demons who have our heads on the chopping block, tomorrow's definitely no guarantee," Paige replied, rising from the bed and reached down for the book. "So, the ritual. What do you need us to do?"

"Paige, I'm not the leader, you know," Billie said, uncomfortable. "I'm just the sidekick who's finally given a bit of spotlight, but the show is still very much yours."

"Well, enjoy your episode now and show everyone what you got," Paige joked, then urged her forward with a twirl of her hand. "This is your battle, you're the one marked to take out Valen. What do you need of me and everyone in this house? Something tells me that we're going to have to celebrate my glamorous existence at a more magically convenient time."

"Sorry that your birthday sucks," Billie apologized, distracting herself as long as possible from her dying hour. "Thirty is a big one, it shows that you've, you know, lived a long time."

"You sure know how to make a girl feel young, Billie," Paige playfully scolded, slightly insecure of her age though grateful of surviving with the killing-demon casualties.

"That's not what I meant, sorry. It's just, I mean, you've done so much. You had a career which you gave up to become one of the strongest witches of all time and you kicked demon ass and got married and had kids and kicked more demon ass and come a couple days, you're going to kick even more ass. You're leaving behind a legacy when you kick the bucket," Billie said, failing to remain upbeat through her babble-attempt. "You've done a lot in so little time. You should be proud."

"I am, but it's not the end. None of us can speak like that, so let's break down this ritual," Paige clapped her hands, eager to prepare the saving grace against Valen provided from her traitorous followers. "What can we do?"

Billie studied the ingredients on the page, very complicated and near foreign to her well based knowledge, but the spirit inside her guided her through the steps she didn't know, adding to her improved magical knowledge. "I personally need to focus my energies, but if you could them get started on..."

**(X)**

Needing a break from all the activity occurring inside her home, from the beginning of where this very long day started, Paige brought her midnight blue Book of Shadows outside with her, reading under the backyard's foyer light. The winds roared with fury, hardly allowing her the chance to read entries on a couple of the arcane ingredients Piper was mixing into the potion, supplied by Cameron's men back at his base of operations, but she just needed this time away from everything going on inside.

Phoebe was materializing and dematerializing through use of Coop's old ring all over the place, collecting necessary altar instruments and weapons she knew to be necessary for the ritual's success and victory over the demons; a couple of Piper's attempts at preparing this unorthodox potion caused several misfires, ringing through everyone's ears at high-volumed blasts; Cameron's swarming in and out of the house grew just as annoying as Phoebe reappearing in Paige's face, except the mercenary wasn't wearing her half-sister's victorious grin; then with Wyatt, Chris, Peter, and the twins trying to sleep under Coop's supervision, Paige's focus was on the angered husband of hers who left for a cool-down drive hours ago.

And she sensed him returning home now...

Minutes later, the car pulled in in front of the house, parking alongside the curb as Piper's jeep was in their driveway. Her focus remained attuned to Henry, feeling him make his way through the house and the sensing grew stronger and stronger until he stepped out behind her, greeting her with, "Hey."

She looked over her shoulder, still sitting on the cemented floor with her bare feet on the cold, still wet grass from the downpour the night before. The terrible winds from the storm continued on, but the sky stopped crying for a couple of hours, bound to rain its rage again. "Feel better, hubby?" He took a seat down next to her and she closed the tome, not getting any real studying done anyhow. "Look, we really don't need to do the whole Big Talk right now. This isn't even my big fight, so let's save the good stuff for when that is. A lot's going on and to be honest, I have a huge headache from everything going on in there and-"

"But there's something I have to say," Henry interrupted, taking her hand. "I'm sorry for my behavior seeming like I doubt you. I just don't do well with your past guys knocking on the front door asking me, your husband, to have a word with you. It irks me and in my renewed vows, assuming you still wanna remarry your jealous Tarzan, I'm going to throw in my rights to be jealous over you. Paige, you're too beautiful, quirky and incredible to not fight over."

"Even when you won the fight long ago?" Paige asked, grinning. "You know, you're pretty hot stuff yourself, Grizzly." She punched his chest, not holding back and smirked at his pain. "Look, I'm not mad or hurt. Really, other wives might make a big deal about this, but there's a world to save and I gotta focus on winning this battle so I can fight another battle and then maybe take a vacation before the next fight pops up."

"It's never really going to be over for you, is it?" Henry asked with an even voice, neither hopeful nor despondent.

Paige sat quiet, already knowing the answer. As long as there was one voice to scream out for her help, she'd be expected to take the call.

**(X)**

"Do you feel now what you've been missing out on? The power, the hunger to plague your will upon the world?"

The agent felt all of these things his master asked of him. He was reformed and grateful for it, no longer the man of the cloth speaking the good Word, but now his wits were sharpened and allowed his voice to be invisible yet profoundly lingering; Reynold's transformation into a Spirit Killer was successful. In place of his golden Messenger robe was now more armor than was necessary, but in his early stages of being evil-blooded, he wanted to ensure his safety to lead a long, spirit-destroying life. He patted down the chain-mail plate on his chest with his black finger-polished hand, looking like the cross of a medieval warrior with a twist of a gothic teenager. It had an edge to match his temper, that which wasn't fitting with the heavenly wear.

"I feel much empowered," the former Whitelighter replied, now very much the paralleled being he used to defend innocents against. "When do I get to go after the Witchlighter's charges? I have a very loud desire to walk them off bridges and run them into incoming trucks."

Avo chuckled and patted the shoulder of his rewarded apprentice, proud to have twisted a formerly benign child of the Elders. "I currently have our deadly Rose, more like Valen at this point, undertaking a chore for me, one that someone with the power she's carrying can manage that I could not. There's much to be done before we make genocide of the Witchlighter's impoverished powered ones. Once we knock them down, other faith-believing cretins will get theirs as well."

"Why don't we up the Darklighter population? Why don't we push others into descent and build a larger army? More Darklighters to take on the Elders and whatever they can throw at us," Reynold suggested, eager to launch the war against the Heavens. With Rose and Avo's legion at hand, victory was guaranteed.

"We need more than Darklighters, we need demons as well. I represent both entities and we need to get them to align under one voice – mine," a tired Avo expressed. "I've attempted this before as you know, but now I'm going to play the hands of the Council. Rose is fetching me my bargaining chip that once I have, they won't be able to deny me the Underworld's servitude."

Reynold shivered at the otherworldly winds in the lair they resided in and nodded, knowing better to question his superior's motives. His faith was now in Avo, the patriarch of his race. "And what of Rose? Does she not think the Underworld belongs to her?"

With a smirk from the Demonlighter, he reached into the folds of his jacket and retrieved a pocket watch. He flicked it open and read the time, "Rose has Valen running through her veins who cares not for the Underworld and should that change, it'll already be too late. Speaking of our beautiful devil though..." He locked the pocket watch and dropped it back into his pocket. "I must be off to meet her now. Practice your new package of powers and find your way to the fourth sector that leads into the deeper districts. If you see a statue of a pale witch, you've gone too far."

"Why there?"

"The end is surfacing." He pocketed his hands and smelled the deathly, sulfurous air. "You don't want to miss the show now, do you?" Orbs consumed him, carrying himself to meet an Evil greater than himself.

**(X)**

She was centered, devoted to the sound of nothing and shunned out the noises of everything. Sarah was crying for her mother's milk which Coop was ignorant to, Piper was failing at the potion over and over, cars were breaking the speed limit, the little girl across the street was snoring unbelievably loud for her age, a teenager three blocks down was choking on his first cigarette, and so much more was going on around the world – and Billie heard it all for a few moments before closing it out of her head, keeping a balance of silence and built up her power.

Her body was healing itself from the mortal wound of falling through time and all the energy she used to travel back was returning to her, reconstructing itself back within eagerly, missing the sorceress who hosted it's essence. The power was very much alive within Billie, pulsing through her heart and onwards, connecting her with unearthly senses. A meadowlark outside minutes before landed besides Paige as the bird and Billie connected, enlightening the sorceress that the meadowlark was lost, separated from the siblings it hatched with. She wondered if the bird recognized that she too was separated from her sister.

The rhythm of her heart began to intensify and her focused energy began to waver, the signs of an outside force disrupting her concentrated flow. Billie tried to fight it and remain afloat with her magic, but the intrusion bruised her attention too far and -

Billie dropped out of the air where she was fixed and onto her bed where she bounced a couple of times. She immediately saw Cameron, the interloper of her meditation. "Thanks for knocking me out of my rather divining nap."

"Anytime," he coolly responded. "Midnight approaches and we have one helluva trip into, well, Hell. We don't really have time for you to be sleeping on the job, divine or not."

"I feel strong," she replied, getting to her feet. "You're going to be happy once you see what I can do. I've been _dreaming_ up ways to attack Valen, defend us all from her power, ways to occupy the demons if I can't kill them immediately...I feel confident." She looked to the floor, trusting her words, but refused to let on the thing she was now most scared of was marching to her death.

"And the spell?" the Phoenix asked, still wearing the demonic attire he had projected onto him. "Did you write it down anywhere so you don't have to go lugging that big book around?"

"I memorized it. I can't allow myself to take my eyes off Rose, uh, Valen, whatever. It just seems fatal to disregard her when she has it out for me. I don't even know if there is a chance that Valen's not one hundred percent steering her body like Rose thought she would," Billie replied. "How's everything going downstairs? Is Piper still bombing the potion?"

Cameron studied her room, noticing the fresh paint of sage green throughout all the walls and assumed it was done to create a more serene environment for her meditation. He appreciated seeing the magical paraphernalia sorted on her bureau as well as the beauty products, but the smell of sandalwood calmed his senses a bit, very much needed before this battle. "Potion's done. All we're missing downstairs is our little Warrior Princess. Care to grace us?"

"I'd actually like a few minutes to myself," she replied, turning her back on him. "There's just one last thing I have to do, but I'll be no more than ten minutes. I just wanna get myself together."

He moved to the door and reminded her, "Ten minutes, Bil. We gotta roll." He then left, closing the door behind him.

Billie moved for her diary under her mattress, an obvious spot to hide such a personal possession, but considering no one else knew it existed, hiding it was just an extra precaution. She opened up to the next fresh page, following the page recording her relief for a revived Paige and began to write:

_This is it. I'm off to meet my maker, march to my death and all those other silly little sayings people use before they die. I haven't spent nearly as much time thinking about what lies beyond life and there's no point wasting words and thoughts dedicated to such a thing now – I'll know for sure in a small amount of time. _

_But time...time is what I need more than anything. Time will allow me to be comforted by the people I love. Time will allow me to say every last thing I want to say to my friends. _

Billie ran her pen vehemently over "friends", scratching it gone and drilled into the page behind it. She replaced it and continued on:

_family. I'm going to miss coloring pictures with Peter and I always hoped I'd be the one to teach that really bright boy to flawlessly color inside the lines. Henry and I were always competing for that honor. Henry's doughnut cravings are so hilarious, I'll miss teasing him. Nothing says stereotypical-cop-guy like a stuffed jelly doughnut. And he always remembered to bring me my marble-frosted doughnuts in hopes of shutting me up. _

_Shutting up...is the one thing that Paige will never learn and I love her for it. She puts my babbles to shame. We're never going to argue (again!) over who used the last of the melon-breeze conditioner, but at least she'll be left with the memory of when she smelled it in Henry's hair and we got to see him blush and try and talk his way out of it. In the end, we found another reason to torture him. _

_Piper always remained pretty reserved with me, Phoebe was always someone I could go to, but I was exposed to Paige's bond and she was really something of a big sister to me. We fought evil together, she's helped me grow with my magic, she learned how to slow me down from my dangerous rushes, and she most of all, forgave me. I'm sure she did, I know that now. She took me under her wing being able to sympathize with me – she was once in my position and I'm just sad that I'll never be able to impact someone in the way she moved me. _

_I'll never get to grow up with the twins. When will they realize that they are special from other mortal children? Will Sarah accuse Samantha for being a copycat and less-prettier version of herself? Will they prank Henry and Peter with magic? _

_I hope that in the Great Beyond, I'll be able to watch. In high definition._

_But then there's Cameron. How is it that I grew to love him? When did that happen? What was the exact moment that I stopped just finding him to be a comforting friend and crossed the line into someone I want to learn everything about? Crushes come and go, but this never went. It never got Friend Zoned. Well, it doesn't feel mutual, but it doesn't even matter now. Even if he cared for me as more than just a fighting partner, we'd never get to play it out. _

_It sucks. This whole thing just...sucks. I was told hours ago that I was going to have to die in order to save the people I care about as well as the people I never knew and never will. In the end, I wish I had more time, but it's time I give up the fairy tale dream that there's an alternative here. _

_Whoever reads this next, I want you to know what I was told. The sorceress in Valen's time period told me that, "A sacrifice is asked of the Spiritus Rector Ritual. In order to gain the trust of the spirits, someone with enough heart to protect the virtuous must be put to death. She then will anchor the ritual's power, hosting spiritual domination over Valen. Brace yourself for death." _

_Color me "braced" for the sacrifice. I love you all and this is why I'm doing it. You're all going to be okay, eventually. I hope you all love me enough to never forget me and maybe even celebrate me? That'd be something cool to look down. You don't have to get crazy and build a fountain in my name with a statue of me spilling the water out of a potion vial or anything...although I always thought that'd be cool. _

_Be well, all. _

Her handwriting was small and only occupied one full journal page, but the penmanship was unsteady and blotchy in a couple spaces due to the tears Billie spilled in grief of her short-lived life. She left the book open on this page, bearing her last words, to be discovered by whoever would be the first to stumble into her room after her death for whatever reason. She knew she had to go downstairs and join them, but she needed a couple more minutes to herself.

She telekinetically locked the door, and began to pull apart her ponytail as she cried for the last couple hours of her life, a time too small to accomplish the thousands of things she wanted to fulfill...

Billie hoped her parents were looking down at her, proud as ever, and would embrace her lovingly in the afterlife.

**(X)**

She composed herself after ten minutes, more time than she asked for but was fortunate enough to have it respected, and she dried her eyes and caught her breath. She finally hopped off of her bed, granted herself one last look of herself in the mirror and was glad to see the woman who was going to honor her word with her death.

With one last scan of her room, she left the room Paige blessed her with, wishing the next inhabitant better luck than her own.

She moved down the hall, trying to pay little attention to the pictures on the wall as possible, but that itself was impossible. An ornate-framed photo of Henry and Paige snuggled close reminded Billie that she wouldn't be able to attend the second wedding of the two. At least she got to sit in the audience at the first, but maybe Paige would've asked her to be a bridesmaid this time around...

_Doesn't matter_, she reminded herself, picking up the pace and leaving the memories out of her heart to make her sacrifice a little easier. She jogged down the steps and into the dining room where most were seated and others were standing. With Piper at the head of the table and Leo behind her, she seemed to be leading the discussion as Billie turned in. "...and that's just my suggestion. This is the only time I'll ever use this, but I'm the eldest and therefore, I know best."

Paige cut in,"_But_ it's my birthday, so I should have extra points towards my vote."

Billie pocketed her hands into her slacks and slumped her shoulders down, "What are we voting on? Personally, I think this Obama guy has it in the bag next year."

Phoebe chuckled, sitting a chair away from Piper, and mockingly rooted her hand, "You exercise your right to vote next year, Billie. Tonight, we're just debating strategies. Piper wants to go in and wave her hands around like a madwoman and hope for the best while Paige wants to tackle this with more than just instinct and good wishes. I'm inclined to agree with birthday girl here."

"As am I," Leo said, betraying his wife and when she looked up at him, he knew he'd pay for it later. "Piper, this is a primeval demon hiding inside a really tempered, scorned witch here. A witch with demon blood, we can't forget. When things got bad with Zankou, that's when we returned to drawing boards and devised a plan. Precautions were taken, Zankou was tricked, the Nexus was banished, and most importantly, you won."

"Sounds fascinating," Cameron drawled, flipping a small dagger back and forth between his fingers. "This is how it's going to go. There are going to be demons there that are stronger than the obvious minions; my men and the other recruits will take care of the lower-levels, careful not to kill too many of them so we can gain more spirits on our side to swallow Valen. All of us in here..." he stopped to focus on Leo and Henry and corrected himself, "Except you two, we're going to take them on as Billie here takes on the Queen of the Damned." He turned to the subject himself and asked, "You ready?"

Billie studied the table they gathered at and noticed various things going on; potions of different colors were lined up from explosive purples to electrifying orange, the dull silver would be the one she would drink to sacrifice herself. She was scared to ask the sorceress of the past if the potion would hurt her in any way; she didn't need anything else to discourage her. On the table were other weapons as well an ax to a couple of swords and a clutter of athamaes.

She moved over and played with a single athamae bearing a pentagram crest on its jeweled hilt. Billie ran a finger along the edge of the blade before poking the tip, "I'm ready to go. There's a couple things we should discuss though..."

**(X)**

After easily fighting away many demonic opponents including the minotaur again, Paige, Billie and the clan finally reached the outside of Valen's Underworld palace. Billie sensed the power lying inside, recognizing many more forces inside but when she connected with Valen's essence, she felt compatible. The awareness of just how powerful she was if she just got creative with her magic allowed her to be the champion that was being asked of her. She turned back at her family and Cameron's Phoenix siblings; most of them were armed with weapons. Phoebe held a jeweled sword by her side with a crossbow strapped along her back, Cameron wielded his sai daggers at the ready, the Phoenixes all held favored weapons from maces to axes and Paige carried the bag of ritual instruments over her shoulder.

"Everyone good? Once we go in there's no turning back," Paige obviously stated. "I mean, we can try, I just doubt it'll do us much good."

Piper bent her elbows and scratched away at her palms, "I'm ready to pop some demons open." She balled her hands into fists, ready to unleash her power with the only weapons she needed during this battle.

"Thanks again for tagging along," Billie said to both Piper and Phoebe. "I know this isn't your fight and you should've been done long ago but-"

"This is something we've never gone against before. I have my powers back, Piper's as strong as ever, and Paige is loaded with magic of all areas. You may be destined to take Valen out, but this isn't a battle that could've existed without the Charmed Ones," Phoebe replied, then pointed her sword to the opening. "I'm sensing a lot of power in there. Some greater than others and ultimately Rose and every last bit of demon she swallowed. It's definitely the power I was sensing when I got my powers back, just not at this volume."

"Just stay alert," Paige said, concerned that if anything happened to her, there would be no one to heal anyone short of Phoebe channeling her powers. It's not like they had the Elders on their side, despite how damn grateful they should be that if they were successful tonight, there would be one less war against the Heavens – and they wouldn't have moved a muscle to save their own kind.

Billie and Paige stood close to one another and Paige quietly whispered to the young sorceress, "You're going to do fine. The things you have planned sound effective."

The blonde grinned and full on smiled when Paige playfully smacked her rear, wishing her good luck in a sisterly way. "You too," was the only thing she could say before they all moved into the palace where Rose in all her demonic glory was sitting on her throne, one leg over the other.

"Come to fight me, have you?" Rose spoke across the room, still wearing the black leather jacket and matching fitted jeans from the night when she first gained possession of Valen's essence. The only difference that Billie and Paige knew wasn't there last time was the bronze chest plate with an infinity glyph stamped in gold across her violet shirt; this had to have been that multidimensional sorceress Reyn, protecting the heart of the demon she hated. "I was told you weren't clever but that was an understatement it appears. You may as well lay down your wand now for your magic is no contest against mine."

Billie looked down at her hands mockingly, then raised the small medieval ax in her possession. "Nope, no wand. Just this ax right here." She scanned the palace grounds, very impressed by this demonically structured lair from the plated floors to the ceiling-high bronze columns and even more so by the inhabitants; thirteen demons stood out from the rest, clearly from a much older era. She pointed her ax to an eight foot tall solar orange demon, two massive spiked wings flapping away but taking no flight, and its tail laid relax on the ground, waiting to crush someone. "And I'm sorry, but I'm betting this guy is going to put up more of a fight than you."

Rose didn't respond to this with a laugh or sarcastic remark; she merely stared, slowly turning her attention to the demon being spoken of and then raised her hand. "Actually, my Grackmar pet here has some vengeance to bestow. These Undying Ones have been reconstituted at full strength – they're in my debt." Then, her demeanor changed, a little more relaxed and held the edge of Rose, particularly the malevolent glint in her burning sapphire eyes and the smirk. "Fly, my pretties, fly."

The Grackmar's wings carried the demon into the air, aiming for the ceiling before a wide vortex opened up, inviting it to take direct flight in amongst the other Undying Ones, who were all of different shapes and colors. They would all have to be hunted down if they threatened the world, but later. Only two remained and they looked prepared to fend off Charmed power.

"Decreasing your defenses doesn't seem to be the brightest of moves, Rose," Billie shouted, carefully building up a power blast to hurl at the demon-hybrid far across from her, but slowly enough that it couldn't be immediately detected. "And yet I'm the dim-witted one?"

"Precisely," Rose curtly replied, her voice resounding of the crystal clearness of the glaciers she visited earlier, gracing the poor excuse of a creation with her presence, nearly destroying the mountain with her incontestable magic. "Do you wish a fight of me, you mortal? That is what you are; mortal. I'll never be conquered, I'll never be controlled, and no one will ever dominate me the way..." her voice drifted off to a corner of her former life, to be forever shadowed away, unable to unearth such humanity again.

Billie reflected on the memory of Rose pre-Valen, the edgy demonic witch who once was a human, now raped of her freewill after inviting this demon in. Rose may have been a threat to Billie, but the sorceress promised to put her out of her misery for no one deserved this corruption.

Paige spoke up for the others unaware of Rose's conception, "Rose's mother Carmen was violated by a succubus. That's how she was born, so I blame the demon half of her that made her pretty bitchy."

The lair began to quake, dropping storms of dust and rocks from the ceiling and Rose composed herself, diminishing the harsh sapphire glow from her eyes that blazed upon hearing Paige's words. "Had I known you were going to mouth off, Witchlighter, I'd have made your stay in the ghost realm mandatory." Rose returned her attention to Billie and said, "You won't even last as a memory in a few moments."

"I'm eager to get on with that then," Billie said with a nod, gesturing her hand forward and unleashed a stream of charged, violet energy that sped towards Rose. The blast reached the demon, but Rose was quick enough to manifest a shield, bouncing the power away from her. It split into several rays which pummeled a few demons backwards before tearing them into ashes.

"That was impolite. I think you need your big sister to teach you some manners," Rose replied, accompanied with a nod and a wave of her hand.

Sapphire flames rose from the ground, depositing Christy onto the battlefield, disoriented. She looked around for a few moments before locking eyes with Billie, a grim look on her face. A small sphere of fire exploded into existence a couple of feet before expanding into the size of a boulder that sped towards her younger sister...

**(X)**

"Split now!" Billie shouted as she telekinetically swept Christy's fireball into the direction of one of the Undying Ones, not committing the attention to learning its success. She charged towards Christy who was also making her way towards her, ready to break the enchantment that Rose no doubt placed upon her. Christy wasn't going to die again, especially not by her hands.

Three of the demon minions of Valen, the Valors (as recognized by the Elders for their fearless fighting) charged towards Billie as she moved for Christy and Billie willed two of them away with her power while ducking the remaining one's blow before swinging back up, connecting her ax with its neck. The demon exploded and Billie carried on, leaving the others alive for the ritual's sake.

A female Valor flew towards Billie with a fireball in each hand and Billie concentrated on the fire, animating the fireballs with her projection power into monstrous specters that turned on their creator, devouring her in violent flames that extinguished the animations as well. The space between her and Christy was close, but there was still the matter of incoming demons to deal with. Just as she was thinking up a new strategy, a gray-skinned warrior with only brown scraps around his waist appeared, kicking the ax out of her hand.

The warrior's shadow black eyes never left Billie's body even during the three successful kicks he landed against her forehead, neck, and chest before sweeping his leg under hers and dropped her to the ground. Billie felt the hidden athamae pinch against her back and she opened her eyes just in time to dodge a slamming foot against her face. She rolled to the side, grabbing the hidden athamae out from the back of her belt in the process, and attempted to get back to her feet when the warrior roared a neon pink blast her way.

The sorceress raised her her hand, deflecting the blast into a near-by Valor which melted slowly. Billie didn't want this warrior-thing breathing its colorful, foul air on her. "It's called mouthwash. Try some," she muttered before hurling the dagger at the gray being. Unfortunately, the warrior was too quick and dodged it, leading Billie to quickly summon the dagger back like a boomerang and successfully drove it into the back of his head.

Like the Valor before him, the gray warrior melted into a bubbling puddle on the steel-plated ground.

Billie began to rise when a foot connected with her chin, dropping her back down. The same foot then pinned down her neck to the ground, choking the sorceress. "Chri-"

"Shut the hell up for once!" Christy demanded out of her younger sister. She held out her hand, palm side-up, twirled her fingers and birthed fire. With a sufficient sized fireball, the telepath grinned.

**(X)**

Leading his men against the reptilian Bacnor demon, Cameron quickly surveyed the demon's appearance for any weaknesses. He only knew that these Bacnor demons held the ability of strength and an ability to paralyze their foes with their seven-foot long emerald tails that matched their scaled armor – the answers to defeating them were long lost or forgotten. The squad of four Phoenixes including both him and the blonde Deirdre who personally despised Billie, were all firing off energy balls all over the demon.

"Sid, get a close up on the stinger," Cameron ordered. He turned to direct a command to Deirdre when he saw three Valors close in on her. A katana blade manifested in her grip and she twisted into the air, sweeping all three of their necks off with a cyclone of a swing. "D, don't kill them all. Billie needs a majority of them alive. Don't forget the stun and shove method."

"Oh, fine," Deirdre muttered as a Valor approached her. She smacked him in the face with the flat of her blade, twice for extra assurance, and rammed her jeweled hilt into the temple of another. She kicked the Valors into the wall. "Billie this, Billie that."

Cameron ignored her, returning his focus on the Bacnor demon that Sid was sneaking around. The eight-foot tall Bacnor stomped over to one of the bronze columns and punched it loose. "I don't think so!" The blond mercenary blasted a succession of three energy balls at the Bacnor's disfigured face, stunning it momentarily.

The demon roared out in an unknown language and furiously searched around for its attacker, landing it's slit crimson eyes on Sid. The Bacnor's tail swung with a velocity that the well-trained Sid couldn't even avoid and stabbed the mercenary in his abdomen with the stinger.

The tail withdrew from Sid's abdomen, but the mercenary was too magically petrified to explode into the signature ashes that would allow him to return anew. Cameron, Deirdre and Lio all cried out for him, expecting him to regenerate, but a harsh sage glow swallowed him whole.

Deirdre and Lio returned to Cameron's side where he couldn't answer their questions as to what was going on. "I don't know, not much is known about them. We have to focus on the Bacnor though." He heartlessly turned away from Sid just in time to see the Bacnor's tail swinging their way. "Jump!"

Like an awful game of jump rope, all three Phoenixes leapt into the air and landed back down on the ground. Lio almost lost his balance flipping around to Cameron and suggested, "Maybe we should run his own tail into him."

"How do you plan on doing that, cupcake?" Deirdre asked.

An explosion sounded beside them and where Sid's former glowing form stood a second Bacnor demon. Their eyes all widened, bracing themselves for the challenge. Cameron sighed as he charged towards the newly created Bacnor with an energy ball in hand, "Sorry, Sid-o."

**(X)**

"Phoebe, move!"

Even before Piper could warn her, Phoebe sensed the demon Salmac approaching her. She levitated into the air, watching as the demon rode past her on his horse which didn't look like anything except pure shadow, yet Phoebe already watched this shadow horse kick Piper off her feet. The worst part was that despite being solid, all their attacks seemed to phase through.

Staying airborne, Phoebe called out to her sisters, "We gotta slow him down."

"I already tried that," Piper shouted up, having attempted to both freeze and blow the horse up several times, accidentally vanquishing demons she wasn't even aiming for as her attack flew through the horse.

"Horsie!" Paige shouted, failing to orb the shadow horse out from under Salmac again. How were they supposed to fight him if he continued to dance around them, breathing fire out of his lion-mouth and swinging his sword from his humanoid body? She attempted to telekinetically throw Salmac's sword out of his hand, but the demon held a tight grip. "Well, then. Sword!"

The sword orbed out of the demon's hand and into Paige's, instantly burning her palms, causing her to drop the sword to the ground with a scream. She held out her hands and activated her hands to call forth her healing light, despite having no injuries on anyone before her to heal, and while her burns didn't go away, the pain was subdued enough. Maybe a couple more minutes of this would allow her to reclaim her place in the fight.

Phoebe dropped down to the ground next to Paige, asking if she was alright while tapping into her power, "Whoa, this feels warm." She ran her glowing hands over Paige's wounds, healing them fully.

Salmac began to charge the Charmed Ones who were discussing tactic as a Valor approached Piper. With a swift gesture, he was still. Wordlessly, Paige orbed the demon to a pile of other frozen demons hidden behind a series of columns for later use. "How are we going to take down the Sword-less Horseman?" Paige asked.

"Maybe if we knew a little bit more about Mr. Lion Head, we could manage a spell," Piper said. "Should we just banish him? We don't have time for this. We can lock him in the astral plane."

"Or send him back down to deeper depths of Hell," Phoebe replied. She was already positioned in the middle when she grabbed a hand of each of her sisters and said, "Just do your best to keep him at bay." Both Paige and Piper raised their free hands at Salmac, taking turns at blowing up the ground below him, orbing broken structures into his path, and deflecting the roars of fire as the middle sister concentrated.

"_Demon of the kingdom from long ago, _

_Reclaim your den of power down below, _

_Fall back amongst crowds of hellish fire, _

_Return now, escape your doomed pyre!" _

Just as Salmac breathed another stream of fire, a vortex opened below him and dropped him back to a hellish plane unknown to neither man or witch.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Phoebe said as the fiery vortex closed behind Salmac. "If you can't beat them, just-"

"Join _them_?" Piper cut in, pointing out the Phoenixes struggling with the two Bacnors. The Charmed Ones charged in their direction...

**(X)**

Having had to telekinetically throw her older sister off of her minutes back, Billie found herself engaged in a battle against persistent Valors and family. Using her power to launch herself over an incoming Valor, Billie landed behind him and swung the ax she reclaimed through his back, splitting him in half to the ground.

A well aimed kick from the sorceress cracked into the jaw of the next female Valor, though another Valor took this as an opportunity to attempt a sweep kick. Billie dropped the ax as she performed a back handspring, successfully dodging the kick and picked up the ax immediately after, hurling it into the skull of the low-attacking Valor. The sorceress gestured towards the demon she previously kicked and whispered, "Sleep." The demon obeyed the command against his will, then dropped to the ground. With a snap of her fingers, Billie transported the demon with the pile of other unconscious and hurt Valors.

Billie flipped around as Christy hurled another fireball her way, easily deflecting it with her original power. "Christy, I'm not going another round with you. This fight is getting old."

"Not gonna stop until the referee raises my hand, sis," Christy retorted. The firestarter charged towards Billie and delivered a punch to her jaw before kneeing her in the stomach. She grabbed a handful of Billie's hair and then looked her in the eye, a new pain residing within her own head. "_I'm sorry for the ass kicking, but this has to be convincing. If Rose knows we're doing anything less than me killing the crap out of you, we're both dead. Just think to me._"

Billie swung her elbow up at Christy, knocking her backwards. "_Okay, there. Convincing enough for you?_"

"_Very_. _Now, I hope this little rescue party isn't all for me. I'm not worth it, so you better have a damn good plan_," Christy thought back, able to channel forth her thoughts out as well as the usual receiving. Just to keep the fight going, she chucked a new fireball that Billie gestured into a cloud of smoke, easily dismissed. "You'll roast, Billie."

The sorceress looked taken aback before she remembered Christy's performance. The look on her face though, this visage of pure, concentrated pain looked honest. "_Christy, are you alright?_"

Christy shook her head and quickly tackled Billie to the floor, lessening the blows of the punches she was executing on her sister's face, especially when blood began to spill from her nose. "_It's taking a lot out of me to block Rose from hearing our conversation. If she overhears, we're dead. But blocking off the power of Valen? I feel like my head's gonna explode. Now, the plan. What is it?_"

Billie caught back some of her breath before mentally responding, feeling tears surface around her eyes from the pain of having her nose broken. "_The Ritual of the Spiritus Rector. We're gathering up the demons to use, but were gonna kill Valen once and for all. Rose may not make it either._" As she did when Christy's foot was pressing down on her throat before, she willed the firestarter off and tossed her onto her back.

The sorceress picked herself up, stumbling to the sides and saw two Valors charging towards her with freshly charged fireballs. She didn't want to risk killing these two, but took too long to think up a transformation for them and fell victim to the fireballs. The burns spread their scorching pain through both her left shoulder and stomach where she was hit as she flew off her feet, slamming against the warm bronze pillar. Billie slid to the ground and screamed, "Paige!"

The Valors continued to approach her with Christy close behind who couldn't risk losing Rose's trust, not during this fight where they were risking so much to destroy her. Billie moved to gesture forward with her shoulder-burnt arm to sweep the demons unconscious with the growing pile but retracted it in pain. Just as she was about to command them to sleep, orbs dropped in front of her where Paige stepped out.

Christy quickly conjured a fireball, hurling it towards the Witchlighter who teleorbed it into the heart of one Valor, impacting him with Christy's flames into a timely vanquish. Paige scanned the grounds for a weapon, spotting Billie's double-bladed ax and willed it to fly off from the ground. She steered the ax through the air and allowed the flat side of the blade to collide into the back of the unsuspecting Valor's head, knocking him out. With a wave of her hands, the demon orbed with the rest of them.

Paige looked between both Billie and Christy, torn between the eternal fight of whether or not she put her time towards healing the victim or battling the enemy. "Screw it," Paige growled before furiously swinging her arm out at Christy, lifting the firestarter off of her feet and sent her diving into a crowd of four Valors. The Witchlighter flipped around to Billie and dropped to her knees, quickly healing her injuries, starting with her broken nose.

Feeling the sweet relief of her nose being healed fully and her burns cooling off, Billie whispered, "Christy's mine to deal with. I got this," and without allowing Paige to finish, she jumped to her feet and quickly ran towards Christy, picking her ax up on the way. She knew she couldn't explain to Paige that Christy was on their side, not at the risk of Rose overhearing or sensing too much confidence out of the both of them.

She quickly scanned the battlefield where she saw Piper, Phoebe, Cameron, Deirdre, Lio and other Phoenixes having a difficult time with the two Bacnor demons; it was a fight hard to watch with the Phoenixes moving around speedily, Phoebe floating around and Piper hiding behind her impacting explosions.

Billie turned to see Paige on her tail and quickly stopped, "No, go help out the others. Whatever the hell those things are, they need to be out the way. I'll try and get us a few more sacrifices and then we move for Rose."

Taking the orders from her charge, mature in knowledge and war tactics after working so closely with Cameron, Paige turned away from the elected leader of this battle and orbed back towards her family and allies.

Relieved, the blonde continued across the field where she saw Rose glaring at her, seeming dissapointed at the fight her soldiers were putting up. As a pair of Valors approached her, Billie threw her ax into the air and telekinetically boomeranged their necks off, gripping the handle tightly when it returned to her hands before the demons could finish exploding. "You're next," she whispered, but with the attention Rose had locked on her, she knew she could hear.

"_My soldiers may die now, but these fields we stand on replenish my army for this is not a graveyard, but a garden where my demons grow and grow_," Rose's eerily monotone voice spoke into Billie's head, violating her mind. "_You're welcome to challenge me directly if you're feeling on taking on someone a little more indestructible_."

She didn't reply with any thoughts or words, knowing Rose would understand being called into battle when Billie swung her ax at her. She fought against other Valors, destroying some while knocking out others, up until she reached Christy who she carefully swung her ax at, thankfully missing her. Christy swung back up with an uppercut, knocking the ax out of her hand in the process.

"_Christy, listen up. For this to work, this ritual has to be backed up with a sacrifice. There's this spell that has to be performed from the Other Side and echoed into our world through the voice of the dead. I'm going to perform it_," Billie elbowed Christy in the face, stunning her more with her mentally delivered words than the blow itself. "_I'm gonna let Rose kill me and in return, she'll die._" The sorceress than crescent kicked her elder sister in the face, sending her to the ground. "_Take care of yourself and my friends and know that I love-_."

Before Billie could finish the only personal farewell she wished to deliver, Christy screamed in a cry louder than that of when she was consumed by her own flames. The concern on Billie's face was a give-a-way and she looked back over at Rose who was grinning.

"_So_," Rose began in Billie's mind, threatening. "_You've come to assassinate me after all. In my own home? Most unkind of you._" Then, aloud, Rose spoke across the battlefield. "Come give it your all."

**(X)**

_So she has realized her potential as a chosen champion, _Rose thought silently, completely undetected by the power of both telepath and empaths. They should be grateful for this, for if they could get into the infested mind of an evil this great, they would know the true meaning of what Hell was and would condemn themselves to death to escape the unspeakable tortures pressed upon their minds. But not her, she was resilient enough through Avo's mental exercises to emerge alive and unbreakable.

"Do you know how I really am, mortal?" Rose asked, her sapphire glare tagged to Billie.

Was Billie Jenkins here really going to try and oppose her strength and her forgotten magic? She may have stood a chance when she was _just_ Rose, she hated to admit, but now? She was one with the Queen of Demons, she in essence was Valen the Valorous.

"Humans are blind to me. Demons fall before me begging me to speak their names. Your Elders hide in their Heavens in hopes their holy wards keep me at bay and for now it does. That changes soon. Plants sung of my return, the ocean crashed upon the ground to welcome me to this odious realm and now my power exists in the heart of the storm. For I am the Queen of Demons and you're just another walking corpse."

Rose was connected to everything, good, bad and everything between. She sensed that Billie was under the impression that she was fated to eliminate her, just as many oceans of so-called champions assumed of themselves years back.

Her army of demons were greater than the average witch could hope to vanquish and while Billie proved herself above average, it was as she said, these demons would emerge again in the passing hours and in that time, the Undying Ones she unleashed were wreaking her havoc and war above hellish grounds.

Rose turned an eye to the traitorous firestarter who was now suffering for forging a block over her mind; the betrayal wasn't a surprise, it just meant that her promise to spare her life was now as void as Billie's eyes would be momentarily – assuming eyes were left to spare. Christy's eyes finally closed, now broken and unconscious after having the telepathic barrier broken.

She turned over to the Bacnor demons and sensed their approaching deaths, despite the advantage they currently owned in the battle. Watching the last minutes of their death mattered not to her and she took her first steps towards the foolishly courageous Billie who was a minute's reach to a fight she wouldn't survive.

Her paladins of war retreated from her path, leaving a clear aisle for their Queen and the sorceress. A few feet from one another, they stopped. "Are you positive to your choice of death, little girl? Is dying at my hand really worth the honor of living out an unfulfilled and likely loveless life?"

Billie held out her hand and felt her power cooly rise within her, bringing both comfort to the fear she had of this battle as well as physically delivering the double-bladed ax she'd grown use to into her possession. She dropped the ax to her side, casually swinging it back and forth. "You don't exactly have me shaking in my worn yet comfortable boots."

Rose looked down at the referred boots and recognized them through the help of Valen's dated memories. "Traveled through time, did we? You've returned with courage it seems. Did someone promise you an untested way to defeat me? Your plan is flawed as you challenge my power with an unproven ritual."

"I'm guess I'm gonna have to roll with the blind faith that those peeps did their math right," Billie replied, gripping the ax's handle to feel safer.

"And as for your non-existing fear, your heart sings a much different tune. There's a steady, fast-beat rhythm being played in my ears, a song that I remember hearing from countless _champions_ before yourself," Rose hid her hands behind her back, conjuring a small jeweled dagger that dripped of purple venom. "Your emotions betray your demeanor. I'm unlike anything you've ever attempted to match before."

"I'll grant you that you're more than the Demon of the Week pace that I'd grown used to, but you're not as indestructible as you claim. You're not the immortal that you think-" Billie stopped to turn her attention towards the Bacnor demon as it cried out. It appeared that all her allies that were working alongside one another to vanquish the two Undying Ones cornered one into a fractured pillar, blasting it off to crush the demon to ashes. In turn, the other Bacnor that was about to crush Lio to death with its foot exploded into ashes.

Rose kept her sapphire eyes locked on Billie's face and watched as its evenness switched into a cocky grin.

"So, ball and chain demons, huh?" Billie asked.

"These demons are Undying. Fall as they may and rise stronger in the next moon cycle for they are infinite. They were born of space and predated magic and will exist in the hell dimensions for..." Rose stopped herself and tilted her head like a curious alien observing mundane fashions at the sight of the Charmed Ones, Cameron and his surviving Phoenixes approaching Billie. "It would appear your cavalry would wish to aid you in this fight, hoping to defeat me if I'm at the handicap disadvantage."

Once the small, yet powerful army gathered behind Billie, the sorceress replied, "Surely someone of your power can take on a bunch of kids like us."

"I entertain your challenge," Rose said, her hands firmly set behind her back still. "My body is deep-seated and drowning in power, resilience and incontestable strength. My mind is infused with wisdom your kind will never know exists. I'm the Queen of dimensions forgotten to this world and will remind the Elders of their mortality soon enough. So, who wishes the first punch?"

With an uncatchable speed, Rose threw her dagger out from behind her back and straight into Paige's stomach. The surprise in Paige's eyes brought warmth to the two hearts that have existed inside of her since inviting Valen in. "The poison of Darklighters. No Whitelighters around to heal you."

When Phoebe moved towards Paige to heal her with channeled power, Rose shouted, "Consider this before healing her. In the moments it'll take for you to take care of your sister, I'll take advantage of your new vulnerabilities – if you use Whitelighter power, you absorb their weaknesses. Your plan to destroy me is most undoubted of you all, so why don't we test just how light-fast you can pin me down?"

Phoebe whispered an apology to a sweating Paige, the both of them understanding the risks of the empath falling prey to Darklighter poison. Phoebe looked over at Rose and snatched a katana blade out of Deidre's hand, "Just for the record, I'm going to enjoy dicing you up."

The sai daggers twirled within Cameron's fingers and he called out, "You know that whole life-flashing-before-your-eyes business? You may have lived two lives now, Rose, but you're not gonna be alive to see it all."

"Perhaps we fight now," Rose said as she moved towards them all, applauded on by her small handful of conscious Valors. She was curious as to what Charmed power meant, knowing it meant nothing in her days.

Phoebe, Cameron, Deirdre and Lio were the first wave to charge her. Deirdre swung her Katana at Rose but the demon-Queen just caught the blade in between her hands before pulling it free from the Phoenix's hands. With one quick motion, she ran it through her heart just as Lio fired two energy balls in her direction.

Deirdre fell to the floor eyes wide as Rose protected herself from the energy balls with her forearms, deflecting them into two other Phoenixes, temporarily blowing them up. She looked down at Deirdre who wasn't reconstituting and knew it to be because of the force delivered behind the stab; Phoenixes could only endure so much.

Trained not to cry for his fellow fallen, Cameron placed the fury behind his daggers, but finding it hard to land a hit like Phoebe. She dodged with an unparalleled grace, using the precognitive senses of the Old Ones. As Phoebe swung her blade towards Rose, the Queen caught it as she did with Deirdre but didn't snatch it clean and instead flung the psychic witch across the battlefield. She may not have seen it coming, but Phoebe triggered her power to catch her in the air before she could crash.

After growing bothered of dodging the rapid attempts by Cameron, she stepped under his next swing and grabbed him by the back of his neck. She lifted him up a couple of feet as she sensed a blast coming her way and turned her attention to catch the invisible explosion inside her hand, returning it towards Piper and blasted her into a still floating Phoebe, dropping the two Charmed Ones to the ground. Rose refocused on Cameron, slamming him down to her feet.

"You lust for a mortal you know little of," Rose stated in an even voice, turning to Billie just in time to deflect a well charged violet blast into the two recently reconstituted Phoenixes, blowing them to ashes again. "I know no understanding of your weakness. You disgustingly use love, the most distasteful of affections towards someone you know not of. What of the days when duels were fought in your honor or when champions gifted the ones they worshipped with heads as trophies?"

Rose looked around the colorful air, stained heavily with blotches of crimson and the clusters of oil black shadowing a color of forgotten name. In her times, the air was thicker with graver colors, but what she breathed now was merely what a mortal child's finger paints would be compared to a portrait defended by numerous security measures in the wealthiest of museums. Again, she spoke, "I'm an alien to your ways, but I'll repair the primeval wheels of the ancient demon cycle in my approaching moments."

Just as she was about to crush Cameron's head underneath her foot, a series of ongoing kicks pushed her away from the weakened Phoenix until she turned away and saw Billie cycling through the air with the use of her telekinetic abilities, rampaging her with many hits. Rose hovered into the air a foot higher than Billie and punched her down to the ground.

Both the sorceress and demon touched down from the air though while Billie slammed against her back, Rose landed on her feet. Rose reached down, choked Billie and understood she could snap her neck clean in this very moment, but this fight was too enticing. She lifted her into the air and as Billie's feet dangled three feet above the ground, Cameron picked himself up from the floor and began to race towards her. "Catch." With the smirk of a sadist, Rose flung Billie into Cameron and knocked him back down, taking her with him.

The Phoenixes and Lio rejoined the fight and Rose summoned power from within and breathed a pulsing blast of magenta energy into them, transforming them all to stone. There stood three warrior statues, petrified in their fighting stances. The Queen gestured with open hands, obliterating each statue with a violent sapphire blast, beyond the help of the reconstituting a Phoenix was capable of.

Rose looked over at Paige who was sweating from the sickness spreading through her blood and crying as well. "Mourn your life, Witchlighter. Avo may have wished for the execution himself but I paid my debt to him tonight. He was void of the warrior spirit, choosing to bide his time when he could've delivered death in many wasted moments."

Billie picked herself up off from Cameron and spat, "Shut up!" Despite how much she wanted it, Rose wasn't silenced by the intentional command, which was a good thing to learn about how her power affected the great Queen. "This ends now."

"Agreed." With a twirl from her hand, a sapphire stream of fire blasted through the air towards her prophesized enemy.

Billie gathered her confidence and trusted in her power's ability – and if it failed, she'd be dead ahead of schedule. "Daggers!" she bewitched, transforming the fire into a parade of daggers which Billie telekinetically rebounded towards its creator. Rose merely stared at the daggers, melting them through the air and left nothing but a sizzling puddle on the ground.

Billie tilted her head and said, "You wanted to see my all, didn't you?"

**(X)**

The sorceress used her telekinesis to aid her in flight, carrying her into the air where she gestured downwards, raining projectiles of fire onto Rose who summoned a shield to guard herself. Billie continued the fiery assault, burning through the clear barrier and struck Rose off her feet and onto her back for the first time. Billie began to drop down, projecting an ax into her possession in mid-air, swung the weapon over her head, ready to strike below onto the demon Queen below. Rose slyly rolled out of the way just as the ax almost connected, sending a violent vibration running up Billie's arms until her shoulders as the blade connected with the plated ground. With a soft whimper, Billie tried to shake the pain free just as Rose returned to her feet and delivered a solid punch into her stomach.

The ax fell from Billie's as she was thrown backwards and landed flat on her back. She leaned up, looking past Rose and saw Piper holding her wounded stomach from her power reflected back at her and Phoebe was limping towards the ritual bag. It was time they started preparing the ritual already. Both their deaths were approaching...

Billie firmly set her palms flat on the ground behind her head, swung her legs back and pushed herself up from the ground, her feet dropping back down after the successful kip-up. Four chakrams began to fly her way in rapid succession one after another and Billie waved them off with hand, transfiguring them all into waves of wind which cooled her bruises and blew back her hair. "You're not living up to your legend, Valen."

Rose examined the sorceress with a studying eye, "I was mistaken it appears. Where I thought you only held the strength of a pounding rainfall and gust, you've the power of a hurricane and gale, but your storm shall not drown me." The demon moved towards the sorceress with an impressive sprint and grabbed her underneath her arms, throwing her against the wall with a painful impact. "Your efforts have been wasted. This ritual will matter not without my demons." She turned her attention over to the crowds of demons laid about, some unconscious, some recovering and others injured.

A missile of sapphire energy exploded from the Hell-Queen's closed fist, driving towards the laid-out demons. Billie watched helplessly as she couldn't move a muscle to create any protection, when the great projectile collided into a forest green shield, rebounding at a speed that Rose herself was too stunned to repel and threw her into the air, landing a few feet besides Billie herself.

Billie scanned for the source and saw all three Charmed Ones chanting in different locations; a very life-exhausted Paige was still lying down, safely propped up against a pillar, chanting weakly; Piper was standing still in one place, placing all her attention to the demons as she now held them all bound by her power while chanting; Phoebe was placing down the second of three mahogany wands in a pyramidal fashion, connecting them all by corners. The spell they chanted, distanced from one another, ensured the protection of the demons they needed alive as their three voices sung as one, apart yet together.

The sorceress weakly picked herself up as Cameron kept an occasional eye on her as he poured a circle of ancient ashes inside Phoebe's triangular trap. She limped over to the circle and turned around quickly to project a web of violet energy onto an unsuspecting Rose, caging her for a limited time. Billie continued to move onward, telekinetically sweeping other free demons away from her as she moved for her targeted spot.

Billie reached Cameron who finished chanting his latin incantation and brushed his cheek with her bloody hand. "It's time..."

"I know. The Charmed Ones have the demons locked down and your stage for the spell is set up. All you have to do now is-" he abruptly stopped, sensing more of this ritual now. "Billie, is there...?" She only looked solemnly at him and his eyes widened. "No. Hell no! Billie, no way in-" He was telekinetically thrown backwards away from the woman who only moments before brushed his face gently and crashed among the rubble that crushed the Bacnor demon.

The sorceress held out her palm and closed her eyes as she used her hidden eye to search amongst an infinite ether where she stored away the potion that would bring her death. An echo of her hand dug past endless treasures hidden by many as she psychically grabbed ahold of the cloud gray potion and reeled it into the world of the real. Billie opened her eyes and a gold spark burst above her awaiting palm and out dropped the gray potion she saw in her mind a moment before. She clutched it with the last strength of her life, prepared to sacrifice herself for all those above her in the world, and more importantly, the people she loved around her.

**(X)**

"_So you all can live_..."

... were the words that got intercepted into Christy's head as she passed in and out of consciousness, coming straight from her younger sister, the one she swore to protect as her last and only act of believable justice amongst her existence of pure-bred evil. After a failed attempt to flame over to Billie, she picked herself up from the ground and fought with control over her legs with her resisting body, proving herself the victor as she ran at Billie.

"_This is it_."

Christy ran even harder and faster, like a child racing during recess with all her friends watching, and quickly glanced over her shoulder where Rose was recovering from whatever had knocked her down in the first place. She looked back at Billie who was uncorking a potion and shouted, "No!" This distracted her long enough for Christy to tackle Billie onto the ground, hurting both of them greatly.

"Christy, no! Get off me!" Billie begged as Christy bound her body with her arms before throwing one arm back to punch Billie across her cheek with a great desperate blow caused by her betraying sacrifice.

"I live for you, Billie!" Christy struck her again, both pissed and close to very human tears. She broke Billie's tight grip and snatched the potion out of her hand before kissing her forehead; harsh and loving. She grabbed Billie from underneath her arms and lifted her off the ground and threw her out of the circle of ashes Cameron laid, preparing her for whatever effects this potion was going to have.

Quickly, Christy uncorked the potion and drank every last drop, forcing her hand over her mouth when she wanted to vomit the not-so-smooth, but rather thick, flavors of brimstone, sulfur and wet chalk off her tongue and out her throat. Swallowing it all, unable to reject it to defeat Valen, she stared down Rose who was on her feet and staring at her curiously. "I'm done being your little bitch," the firestarter growled, summoning a weak fireball into her palm as Billie cried out behind her to flee.

"Then be done you shall," Rose curtly replied before blasting a greater-sized sapphire sphere of power towards Christy who threw her fireball at the incoming attack. The sapphire fire swallowed Christy's power and continued its journey to its target, striking her directly in the heart and off her feet where a glowing barrier kept her bound within the circle.

With one last scream cut short, Christy dropped to the ground, sacrificed and no more.

**(X)**

Her throat burned the higher Billie screamed, "NO!", carrying the note out for stretches of time and repeating herself when the word was growing dry and no longer carrying the desperate meaning behind it. Having prepared only for her own death, the sacrifice of her sister crashed into her like a truck colliding into a juvenile bicycle – both unexpected and severely painful. Billie grabbed at her heart as she crawled towards her sister, or namely, her sister's body.

"Christy!" Billie shouted as she picked herself up and ran to the corpse where the barrier surrounding it emitted sparks at another's presence. The sparks struck Billie all around, her bare arms, her unguarded face, but she pushed forward past the blistering pain before phasing through the barrier. She dropped to her knees and cradled her arm underneath Christy's head and ran her other hand through her light brown curls. "Christy, Chri-, no. Just, no."

Footsteps approached Billie and the sorceress turned and saw Rose menacingly approaching, a panther stalking down a defenseless prey. Billie glared and screamed, "Back away! No, stay back!" She broke her hand free out of Christy's hair and raised it at Rose, projecting a blast of variant colors that unsteadily exploded against Rose's armor, not having any effect due to Billie's indecisiveness of what she wished to make done against the enemy.

If there was something Billie knew she wanted, she spoke it to Christy, "No! Christy, please! I'm sorry that I was – no, it's just... Please!" She looked up at the ceilings and begged to all the heavenly forces above and screamed, "I need more time! Please, I need more time! I need time with my sister!"

**(X)**

Something felt _different_.

She felt herself lingering in a place she had no business to be in. Billie looked around and felt as if the world had changed within a blink that she never had. Her eyes never closed, yet here she was, standing atop a gray marble platform surrounded by a raging fire that she instantly trusted wouldn't burn her. She took a couple of footsteps, her body absent of the pain from her battles, and held her clean, bloodless hand close to the fire and relished in the breeze it gave off instead of violent heat.

Beyond the fire were tendrils of energy dancing chaotically in colored patterns of cotton white and sunflower yellow lost inside clouds of black and blood red. Violent winds blasted out from the energy clouds and through the fires and relaxed Billie until a lightning bolt exploded a couple of feet away, birthing a small fire into existence. The fire stretched into the sky and stopped at Billie's height, forming her sacrificed sister.

Christy looked the same as she did when she died. Still war-stricken with sweat and blood and cuts and bruises, some caused by Billie herself. "Dying isn't any more fun the second time around, sis." The two lunged into one another's arms, squeezing the _breaths_ out of one another. "It's better this way. You know, with me dead and you not." She pushed Billie back a bit so she could see her tear-stained face and joked, "I don't think death would go well with your shoes."

"I wish you didn't do that. You were doing good, you were making a recovery on our side and-"

"I would've never been fully accepted by your people. The Old Robes up in their cloudy courtroom would've never trusted an ex-assassin of the Triad and that would probably go the same for the Halliwells. Those sisters were your family when I wasn't around to be and even when I was by your side, I used you selfishly. I got my second chance tonight and I'm not done yet, am I? If you were going to go out with a bang to take down that Queen Bitch, I guess that's my car to drive now."

There was no point asking Christy how she knew everything. Besides the telepathic discussion they shared, all secrets must've been revealed when Billie was ready to down the potion. All she could respond with was a whisper, "Christy..."

"Billie, we don't have the time. It was a spell, right? I don't know exactly where we are right now, I'm guessing it's a limbo of some sorts, but before I'm dropped down to the pit, I want to drag Valen and Rose with me by the hair," Christy declared with a grin, a couple of her back teeth stained with blood.

"You're not going to Hell, Christy."

The firestarter shrugged her shoulders, "I've burned enough for a lifetime, literally. I really don't wanna see if the Devil exists because I doubt I'd be welcomed into his winged embrace being the piss-poor assassin I was, but it's not for me or you to say."

Billie began to re-experience some of the pain from the battle, but did her best to ignore it. "Don't give up hope. If this spell works, there's no way you'll be denied. It takes a great sacrifice of a pure-hearted person to make this work. I have no doubt you'll drive Valen down for good."

"I guess we got our answer then. If Valen dies, maybe the Big Guy will reward me with Heaven – probation, of course, but not Hell," Christy grabbed Billie's hand and noticed the blood and bruises reappearing all over her little sister. "We're running out of time. How does this work? The spell."

"It's the Ritual of the Spiritus Rector, which was supposed to be me, or at least I thought it was. Maybe it was you all along. I could've just been the messenger," Billie suggested and carried on. "This spell is a lot like a prayer, it's written in some nameless language. It's pretty predated stuff. There have been translations throughout the ages and I know a current one, but if you just understand me from your ghostly plane and chant the language that will come to you naturally because you're now..." She paused, earning an almost angered look from Christy that urged her on. "Dead. Because you're dead, you'll know the language and can chant it from your side."

"Got it. You chant and I'll chant, but my words are the ones that matter, right? I'll be singing that bitch one last lullaby?" Christy asked, getting her answer with a nod. "I like the plan." The fire began to close in on the two, ready to incinerate Billie's stray astral soul back into her body and Christy onto the battlefield to serve her last act. "Billie, I need you to promise me something. And I'm pretty freaking serious about this."

"Okay. Whatever, I promise."

"Leave me dead. I have no place amongst the living, I just don't. I was raised by the worst of wolves, I'm incapable of too many human things. I can try, but it feels like a lie to save people I don't know or have any connection to. I know that comes natural to you, but your heart is different than mine. I was tainted and I'm glad that when you _killed_ me that first time, I came back with a pure love for you that I would've been executed for," Christy rushed out, sensing the fire inches away from her. "Don't summon me, don't go through time to change this. Just forgive me. And hell, pray for my soul."

The two embraced one last time as the blizzard cold ring of flames encompassed them, not harming them with its flames because Christy would never again hurt Billie, in life or death.

**(X)**

Billie woke up lying on top of Christy's body, having collapsed onto her when her astral self was projected into that deathly plane to have more time with her sister. She looked over at Rose who was battling Cameron and a couple other Phoenixes that spent their better time of the battle defending the main crew from interference.

The mercenary that Billie cared greatly for hopped over Rose before unleashing a fury of bladed strikes against her back, both distracting and tiring her out. The Hell-Queen spun around to crack Cameron's face with her elbow, but he dissembled his body into countless particles and reformed on the ground at her feet where he quickly stabbed her with both sais in her abdomen. "Do you feel all those curses running through your old blood?"

Rose's eyes widened at the existing pain before she collected a deep breath and held her hands together. An orb of energy manifested that she launched into Cameron, tearing his body apart in an unearthly fashion; the particles all flew in different directions, never returning to one another to recreate the man known as Cameron Hawke. Just as the other two Phoenixes struck, she telekinetically banished them to the other side of the lair, not threatened by them.

The true threat rose in the shape of a powerful sorceress, wounded in several places, mourning her last link of blood family, and not seeing Cameron rematerialize only added to her anger. She looked at all the wands stationed around as Rose stepped inside the triangle and commanded the power in their cores, "Ignite." An orange flare shot from the tips of each wand, connecting with one another and caged the great Queen.

Billie then felt Christy behind her and turned around and saw her spirit floating a couple feet behind her. The two nodded at one another before focusing only on Rose. "You've lived too many lifetimes. If only you would've kept to the better part of those years where you didn't show your face."

The sorceress held out her hands, ignoring all remarks from Rose as she recalled the spell into memory while simultaneously projecting all the demons into the pyramid with her, but outside of her own ringed barrier. Billie started with the spell, stopping after each line to give Christy a moment to keep up as she pronounced every word in an unidentifiable tongue, but both sisters held their palms pressed together in prayer to the higher forces they were calling upon.

_Embers to flames, raindrops to storms,_

_Where breath has been drawn, _

_Yours has been stalled, _

_Immortal once, but now no more, _

_Mortality crawls to snatch your soul._

All the sacrificial demons exploded out of their shells, their flesh torn apart quickly to unleash the spirits that sparked life into the animation of beings known as Valors. The crowd of faceless spirits hovered into the air and slowly began to mist into one another, immediately striking fear into the features of Rose. Her sapphire eyes widened and she took a couple of steps back at this unholy sight and quickly threw her head back where she released a scream loaded with the anguish of a parent who lost its child, the horrible pain of someone burned alive, and even the broken hearts of two supposed-to-be destined lovers.

Rose herself glowed a flaring blue as navy smoke funneled out of her mouth and eyes, leaving a spectral monster with countless arms and legs swimming through the air, looking down at Billie, directly at Christy's spirit and the spiritual sacrifices respectively with her three, undistinguished heads. This mammoth sized specter was the closest true form anyone had ever seen of the Hell-Queen Valen.

As Rose's body dropped down to the ground, eyes frozen open, Valen spun around, knowing wiser than to fight, and flew past Billie and was rebounded by the mystical energy of the wands. As the demon's essence persistently pounded against the barrier, close to breaking it, Billie broke concentration for a few moments to throw her hands out and restrain the unholy demon, which felt a lot like grabbing solid smoke.

With a firm grip, Billie continued the chant, repeated by Christy in spiritual tongue...

_Fires and storms come to a calm, _

_Extinguished by our merged final breaths,_

_And your end shall be met with the echoes of souls,_

_imprints you've animated out of death._

As Christy said "death" in the nameless language, which sounded a lot like a click and a hiss mixed together, the souls merged together to form their very own Reaper, one much like the one that conquered Valen centuries ago, but this Reaper would not bury her alive for what was supposed to have been eternal torment. Some of the souls took the shape of a scythe that the new Reaper swung at Valen, hacking away at her essence, throwing swirls of her navy energy into the air the way a child would peel a scab. The Reaper continued to graze her, stab her, attacking its creator in remorse for the time spent away from the afterlife they wished to own, but forced to obey her bidding.

A tremor triggered through the Underworld, ready to open its hellish mouth in planes far below to welcome a great entity.

Billie glanced over her shoulder at Christy, who gracefully floated above her, anchored by the spell, and once the final words were shared, she'd move into the afterlife. She solemnly smiled at her sister and mouthed, "I'll pray for you." Christy only nodded, then looked over at Valen who was beginning to smack the spirited-soldiers that constructed this Reaper with her arms, building a defense...

The sorceress focused and shouted the final words of the vanquishing prayer to be echoed by the spirit of her sister, the one with the boldest heart to die for more than just her sister, but a world of innocents she felt no love for and the Underworld's nations of demons who needed to survive to protect the Balance of All.

_And from Hell you were born, _

_To Hell you'll waste. _

The Reaper glowed in a stunning silver llight and drove through Valen's essence with more intensity, chopping off her legs and arms before severing all three of hers in the most sudden of seconds. Sapphire flames and neon blue lights exploded out of the stomach of Valen, blowing her apart, leaving nothing but a whisper of a cry amplified a billion times in a Hell no mortal soul could reach. When the sapphire flames finished swallowing the Reaper, full of spirits who would never to rest again, but only be nothing, Billie looked up to see the last shadow of Christy fading into her afterlife. The will to cry came, but no immediate tears were summoned with all that was going on.

Christy was gone, but she was granted a good-bye.

Cameron was gone in a suddenness that Billie couldn't believe.

And Rose began to roll to her side, alive.

**(X)**

The sorceress cautiously approached the ever-dangerous Rose on the ground, who had long promised to kill Billie herself before acting as a vessel for Valen, and her hand shone violet and within the glow manifested a long-sword. She inched towards Rose slowly, dragged down mostly by the grief of a sister and Cameron she couldn't relax to mourn until she was safe from the assassinating half-witch sprawled on the ground who began rolling back and forth.

Soft whimpers escaped Rose's lips and Billie couldn't make out the words that followed, each separated by a breath. She was now a safe enough distance of three feet away to make out that the words were Spanish, Rose's native language. Billie daringly looked behind her and saw all three Charmed Ones approaching, Paige finally healed by Phoebe both borrowing and applying her power, and didn't know what to tell them or do to Rose.

Rose was dangerous and forever would be dangerous. Billie doubted she would ever make the effort for redemption, not the way that Christy did... And yet, she couldn't get herself to raise the sword to slay this dragon while it was caught off guard.

The pyrokinetic witch began to cry as she leaned up, her back to Billie, clawing at her hair and face desperately, trying to rip something off. The cry grew louder as Rose finally fell out of her Spanish-speaking trance, the language she spoke with her mother when she was young and terrified, and cried out in English without the tone of a Hell-Queen living inside her, "I see _nothing_. Not the _air, _not the _colors_, not _anything_."

The sorceress focused her attention to Rose's bare neck, the exposed tattoo of a delicate rose with blue flames emblazoned around the petals, and this could all be done right now. _Slay the dragon, _Billie thought to herself. _Slay the dragon that Christy wanted to drag to Hell with her. No, not Hell... Not for Christy. _

The panting and cries of Rose grew louder as the demonic witch struggled to her feet, unable to maintain balance. She dropped back to the ground and attempted to stand once more, but only stayed up for a moment and a half before falling to Billie's feet. Her eyes shot skyward as she cried out, "NO!"

Billie's eyes widened as they connected with Rose's glazed white eyes. "You're blind..." she whispered.

Rose bounced onto her back, crawling in reverse on the heels of her hands as she shook her head side to side, "You... You bitch, you did this to me!" She stopped to unleash a very mortal scream and scratched at her eyes and face some more. "Get it out of my head, get it out of my head!" Another scream.

Registering that Rose was now seeing _something_ in her head, Billie dropped the longsword and ran backwards to the Halliwells. She grabbed Paige by the wrist and said, "She's blind, but she's seeing terrible things still. What the hell is going on?" She glanced over at Phoebe who began to cry and clutch at her heart, both fearfully and sympathetically. As Phoebe took many steps backwards, looking as if she was ready to faint, Billie asked, "Phoebe, you alright?"

"She's seeing Hell," Phoebe reported, attempting to shake her head free of the images she just received, but in truth, no one forgets Hell, not even seven seconds worth. Phoebe would be tormented with these nightmares until her final day.

"Must've come with the Valen package," Paige responded as Phoebe continued backwards, staying a great distance away. She looked mournfully at Rose, "I tried to save her so long ago..."

"Is she past saving? Can we kill her?" Billie turned back over to Rose, who's face was growing bloody with each new scratch of her own offense and asked, "I mean, _should_ we put her out her misery? This is no way to live, I don't think she even deserves to see Hell forever."

The blonde approached Rose some more, wondering if she had the power within her to erase the images, but not only did she feel exhausted of all the power she exercised already, she knew the memory of Hell would overcome anything she might manage. She crouched down and considered placing a hand on Rose's shoulder, but decided against it. "Rose..."

The panicking half-witch swung her fist out, successfully reaching Billie's jaw on instinct only and knocked the blonde onto her back. "You stay away from me, pendeja! You and your freakin' filthy Whitelighter forced me into this!" She spat on the ground, missing Billie by inches, and continued on, "Why couldn't you all just leave me alone?"

Paige now reclaimed charge and stood over Rose, "Because I wanted to stop you from making the choices _you_ made. Life is scary at times, sure, but the choices you made out of fear weren't pressed on you. You wanted to feel safe with your powers by your side, powers _I _never wanted to take away from you, but in doing so, you decided to sleep with the devil as well." The Hell-tormented witch only listened, cringing every now and again from a horrific mental sighting, but she didn't run away. "And where is that devil who promised you aid so long ago? As you're punished with watching Hell on the endless channel of your mind, where is he to _help _you?"

Sapphire flames flickered in between Rose's olive-skinned hands, then crawled up to her elbows and dissipated. The flames returned once more, before vanishing out again. All the witches around her watched cautiously and prepared gestures with their hands that would protect them, then they all were shocked when a cannon-sized fireball of the same sapphire color exploded into existence a couple of feet above Rose's head. The fireball continued to increase in size, heat, and the violent crackling sound as Rose cried out, "Hell is hurting my eyes..."

The more pain Rose felt, the angrier she got, and with that, more power piled into the already massive fireball that was now the size of small demonic lair. A harsh blazing blue glow was cast over all the women, including Rose who's face was mixed with the blood of her self-infliction and the sweat of the profound, burning bomb hovering over her.

The stray Phoenixes ran over to the Charmed Ones and Billie and one quickly said, "I don't think you guys are nearly as reparable as me and my guys are, so I suggest we get the hell out of here."

_Cameron_, Billie thought, more than his name, but everything he's ever done and could've done for her. This chord struck her greatly to the point where she had to restrain herself from making all that fire shower down on its caster...

"I'm with that guy," Piper agreed, running a foot past Billie to grab Paige's shoulder and start dragging her back. "She's past hope. We have too much going on for us to die for her, I'm sorry to say. Our _families_, Paige."

Paige and Billie looked at one another, helplessly lost at what to do. Allow Rose to burn down with the rest of this palace as all her power channeled into what was once an ordinary fireball or save her as well hopefully find a cure to her Hell-torment? Leaving her to die felt wrong and neither of them could bring themselves to do it.

They both looked over at Rose and noticed a sword lifting off the ground. Assuming Billie was behind it, Paige shouted, "Billie, don't! You're not a killer, no matter how evil she was!"

"It's not me..." she muttered softly as a fractured hand of black particles lifted the sword by its dark hilt. More particles began to build from the middle of the air behind Rose and connected with each other, forming an intensely cut up Cameron.

His face was scratched more than Rose's, tears of blood streamed out of his exhausted-looking gray eyes and down his scarred cheek as he whispered into Rose's ear with chapped lips, "I'm like a cat..." In a sudden movement, he slid the longsword across her neck like the bow against a violin, but no music or screams sounded as the slit against her throat struck Rose dead. He dropped her corpse to the ground as the fire above him dissipated into a clouded mist and panted, "A really pissed off cat with more than nine lives." He rose to his feet, wiped blood off his cheeks with his torn sleeve and muttered, "Bitch."

Seeing Cameron alive relieved her buried emotions, but Christy was still gone. There was no room for smiles just yet. The sorceress walked over to Rose's corpse, resting on its side with white eyes petrified open and asked aloud, "What do you think will happen to her?" She was more concerned about Christy, but felt the need to ask. "Her spirit, I mean."

Paige noticed that Billie was swaying side to side, ready to collapse from everything that happened from Christy dying, vanquishing Valen, thinking Cameron to be dead to only return to kill Rose and the impact was about to hit and siren their triumph any second now...

The Witchlighter walked over and kept Billie stable by hugging her with one arm around her waist while leaving a hand on her shoulder, "Well, unlike Valen who's going to suffer a very final death..." she drifted off as she looked over at Rose, still wearing the armored plate of Valen's on her chest and continued on, "Rose may be given another chance. She foolishly sacrificed her body and mind to a demonic entity, but it was done out of fear. Maybe the nice and forgiving Bearded Guy up in the clouds will write this one off as a temporal death and allow her spirit to be recycled." She massaged Billie's shoulder and added, "Like Christy."

Hearing Christy's name spoken by a sympathetic Paige struck Billie like a lightning bolt from an open blue and cloudless sky on a summer's morning; she slipped past Paige's grip and dropped to the ground, crying uncontrollably at their victory and the price of it. She looked over at her sister's still body and thought of Christy and where her soul currently was and wanted to break the promise so bad, just to have a sneak peek on how she was doing...

The suddenness of familiar hands gripping her arms as Paige's slipped away broke her thought and she looked up into Cameron's attacked face and assumed this happened when he was broken apart by Valen's blast. It didn't matter, they were both alive and there wouldn't have to be any regrets about not saying anything. She buried her face into his chest and just cried tears for many occasions such as winning, surviving and grief amongst others.

The assassin then pressed his scarred lips on the sorceress' blood-stained forehead, an almost disturbing sight to see such loving affection in a dark phase between the two warring lovers, but they won, and from here, they would all start anew together.

**End of Chapter. **

**A/Note: **That's it! The finale will be approaching soon enough, guys! I'm working on it, but it's gonna take a while. I'm not rushing the writing, it's kinda, the end. So that's important to get right, I think. Look for updates on my main page though! Review, please!


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